


The Epic Highs and Lows of Ghost-Hunting

by zabiume



Series: pinky promises. [1]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Character Study, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Karakura Town, Magic, Minor Inoue Orihime/Kurosaki Ichigo - Freeform, Orihime-centric, Past Character Death, Post-Winter War (Bleach), Shun Shun Rikka - Freeform, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, barely any violence but enough to warrant a tag, karakura kids, teenage cussing, teenagers being passionate about Sports and Hobbies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:09:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 58,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24976633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zabiume/pseuds/zabiume
Summary: Between the end of the Winter War and Ichigo losing his powers, Orihime and her friends are trying to find the new normal. When a mysterious twist of events from the past and future pull them in for small-town adventure, Orihime can only hope it doesn't end up in inter dimensional war again.ora slice of life look at what the karakura kids get up to between the 17 months Ichigo loses his powers and gets them back.
Relationships: Arisawa Tatsuki & Inoue Orihime, Arisawa Tatsuki & Kurosaki Ichigo, Inoue Orihime & Ishida Uryuu & Kurosaki Ichigo & Sado "Chad" Yasutora, Inoue Orihime/Kurosaki Ichigo
Series: pinky promises. [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1807861
Comments: 50
Kudos: 84





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> SEVERAL DISCLAIMERS:  
> Though this says 'ichigo/orihime' on the tin, this is a  
> 1) karakura gang friendship focused  
> 2) plot-focused  
> 3) character study centric fic first and an ichihime fic LAST. The slow burn tag should rather say Agonizingly Slow Burn because that part of the story will be fleshed out over several works in this series. 
> 
> There are minor discussions of abuse faced by Orihime in Hueco Mundo, but there's only one scene that goes in slightly graphic detail. This takes place in chapter 1 and you can read a more elaborate warning for what exactly happens in the notes at the bottom, if you're uncomfortable. Past Character Death refers to Sora, who will be mentioned several times in this fic. 
> 
> I have also never written a mutiple-chapter work in my life, so I got Anxious and wrote all of it. I'll be figuring out a schedule and possibly uploading them weekly twice. Also idk how other writers do this, but I've discarded honorfics entirely, hope that's okay!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Though Shun'O is mentioned as a "male spirit" in canon, my Shun'O is non-binary. I've taken a lot of liberties with Orihime's canonical powers and expanded on the same.

“So my neighbor is having a baby,” is the first thing Orihime says to Uryuu after they get back from Hueco Mundo. She says it with the absolute conviction of someone who’s about to bite off far more than they can chew, which is all sewing is, really. 

She slips into the seat in front of him, but straddles it so she’s sitting backwards, resting her elbows on the head of the chair. There’s a maniacal glint in her eye that he’s sorely missed, purely because she Gets It. She knows. That’s why they’re in Sewing Club together after all. It’s a dangerously enticing enterprise.

“Ah,” he replies, knowingly. “Surely this is a neighbor you must be close to on a gift-giving scale? Or should I say...a mittens-giving scale?” He drops his voice to a low, conspiratorial murmur. 

Orihime gasps, loud and happy. “You read my mind,” she exclaims, dropping all pretenses. “I’m thinking of making this my new passion project, what do you think?” She dumps a moderately sized box on his desk, filled with all kinds of fabrics and her stitching kit. 

“How many mittens?” Uryuu asks, pushing his glasses up as he peers into the box. “More importantly, what are the dimensions? Surely an infant’s hand cannot be bigger than…”

What _was_ an infant’s hand size? Uryuu frowns. He can’t remember the last time he’s been around a baby, much less held one. And as much as he respects Orihime’s very natural talent for the craft, she’s always been more of the theme and color decider than the dimensions. That’s him; he’s the dimensions guy, but he doesn’t really know how big a baby’s hands should be. He pulls out his phone, eyeing the Crafts teacher from the corner of his eye. He’s Club President, but he’s not invincible to the power of School Rules. 

“I figured they shouldn’t be bigger than a standard-size hot cross bun,” Orihime supplies, withdrawing an _actual hot cross bun_ and a plastic template from the box to show him. She’s marked out all the corners in pencil and while he isn’t satisfied with seemingly inane and vague sense of measurement, he supposes he can see it fit a child’s hand. “I brought one from the bakery, just to be safe.” 

“A wise fix, Orihime,” Ishida remarks, satisfied. “I shall be glad to oversee this project, should you need my guidance that is.”

“You guys are so fucking weird.” Michiru says from under her breath, a desk beside them. “It’s _sewing_.” 

“It’s a lifestyle,” Orihime argues back, giving Uryuu a good-natured eye roll that he certainly agrees with. He wouldn't expect the likes of Michiru to understand anyway -- just rich words coming from someone who still doesn’t pre-treat her fabric, the pleb. “Anyway, I’ve decided to make one pair for each month, but I can’t decide if I want it to follow a color scheme or a season scheme.” She bites her lip, like the first dregs of a new idea are starting to form in her brain. “Or how about...a pattern scheme?”

Uryuu groans. If he ever has to give Orihime constructive criticism -- emphasis on the constructive -- this would be it. Her constant flitting between elaborate ideas, coupled with her oversight on actual significant details, would be the death of her. It’s her imaginative mind that makes her good at many things, but it’s also going to be the root of her downfall if Uryuu doesn’t stop her soon. 

“I think a season scheme should be good,” he replies mildly. “While there aren’t twelve seasons, the patterns would be aesthetically pleasing enough. Colors only invite hassle of gendering the poor child before it even develops a sense of self. We don’t want that.” 

“We don’t,” Orihime agrees, seeming satisfied with his answers. “Thanks, Uryuu.” 

She turns back to her desk and begins fussing around with the neatly cut flannel pieces. Uryuu watches her for a few more minutes, something akin to concern building in his chest. It’s no surprise that she’s still very much shaken; he can see it in the way her hands tremble and her eyes tighten and how Arisawa Tatsuki won’t let her go off for so much as a restroom break without following her around defensively. Funnily enough, he can't remember the last time the latter spoke more than two words to Kurosaki. He'd be concerned if he wasn't so tickled by it. 

Yet, Orihime. Orihime is someone he is concerned about. They've barely started school again, and she's already on to two after-school clubs and a part-time job. Uryuu doesn't know a lot about coping mechanisms but overworking to avoid Dealing With Feelings hits close enough to home base. 

For anyone else, he'd have passively registered it without comment but Orihime isn't anyone else. Begrudgingly, Uryuu's come to admit that there are a select few in this world -- and others -- that he cares about and she happens to be one of them. 

Besides, apart from Chad, he wouldn't trust anyone else in their group to notice anyway. Kurosaki would run into a 'stop' sign if it stared him in the face. 

They wind up for the day, but Orihime and Uryuu stay back to clean, since it's their turn on the rota. They usually end up getting paired for this, and it's _usually_ comfortably quiet, but he decides to break it. 

"I don't mean to intrude," Uryuu starts. "But I've been meaning to ask. Are you seeing anyone, Orihime?" 

Orihime widens her eyes in genuine surprise. "Like of the romantic kind?" 

Uryuu shakes his head quickly, berating his poor choice of words. He regards her, albeit kindly. "Of the professional or mental health kind." 

Orihime's mouth makes a small 'O' in understanding. "No," she says sheepishly. "I don't know if I could really do that, if I'm being honest. Besides, I don't know if anyone would ever understand the k-kind of things we've been through anyway. I can't really imagine myself explaining Hollows or Arrancars to a professional." Orihime giggles, rubbing the back of her head and he gets it. She has a point there. "But I'm fine! I'm really happy to be back and get back to all my work, and all my friends like you, Tatsuki and Chad and everyone. It feels great!" 

Uryuu notices the obvious name missing from the list but he indulges her. Bearing witness to what felt like an incredibly strange and almost _private_ moment on the rooftop of Las Noches was one thing, but you couldn't pay Uryuu to talk about Kurosaki-related-feelings if you tried. 

So he fields it and focuses on the important part of the conversation instead. 

"I'm happy to hear that," he says, picking up a stray ribbon. "But therapy isn't just for people who aren't fine, you know? We could all benefit from it, regardless of how we're doing." 

Orihime beams at him, from her place at the other end of the classroom. "You're right," she says, dusting her hands from the broom. "Thanks for looking out for me, that's very thoughtful of you. I should be more active in self-care, shouldn't I? We all should." 

Uryuu smiles back waveringly. It doesn't feel like success but it feels like progress, so he'll take it. 

.

Self-care comes about a week later, in the form of kicking off her socks and eating an entire tub full of ice cream with Tatsuki. Like, all of it. Sora would have been absolutely _pained_ if he was here. 

_I didn't spend nearly three-quarters of my paycheck for you to blast it all down in one night you know_ , he'd say, begrudgingly rubbing her nose after she got too cold from all the ice. Sometimes -- and only Tatsuki knows this -- sometimes she'd only pretend to get cold so Sora would abandon his delivery reports and other adult jargon to just come cuddle her. 

She tries not to do that anymore. It’s not like she can, anyway, with Sora gone.

They’re supposed to be planning lineups for tomorrow’s football match as Captain and Vice, but neither of them really want to do anything after a rough evening of training. 

Tatsuki’s rubbing her knee in low circles now, her fingers cold and ticklish over Orihime’s skin. They’re on a _Kamen Rider_ marathon tonight, the _old_ one with laughable vfx and Orihime’s trying her best not to fall asleep, but her eyes are tired and droopy from exhaustion. On screen, someone jumps off a building and lands perfectly on his feet. 

Orihime laughs softly into Tatsuki’s shoulder. 

“What?” Tatsuki asks, amused. 

Orihime shakes her head, rubbing an eye. “Ichigo always complains about how it’s so unrealistic that these characters don’t tuck and roll when they jump,” she explains with a small smile. “Something about Kon being inspired by action sequences and shattering his knees one day.”

“Does he now?” Tatsuki asks dryly. 

Something about that tone makes Orihime’s stomach squirm uncomfortably. She averts her eyes from Tatsuki’s, watching her nails instead. “Are you still mad at him?”

Tatsuki snorts. “Nope,” she says. “I think I just need more time before I can start talking to him again.” She extracts her arm from Orihime’s shoulder and puts it on the couch head behind her, eyes still fixed on the laptop. “It’s just, I’m glad he saved us and everything but I wish he’d fucking talk to me, you know? When we were kids, he’d always come crying the first sign of trouble -- and I’m not saying that’s what he should do now -- but I guess I hadn’t really realized how wide the gap had become until they took you away, those Arrancar bastards.” 

Orihime nods quietly. She knows better than to interfere in all matters Tatsuki-and-Ichigo but seeing the two people she loves the most exchange stony greetings and pointed silences is a bit much. 

“You know what his problem is?” Tatsuki pipes up. “He thinks people won’t understand. And he’s right. Of course I’m not going to understand what it’s like to be a child soldier for a prehistoric organization of elite death gods but would it kill him to say something? Anything?” Tatsuki turns to Orihime now, her eyes a mix of wild anger and hurt. “You know what he said to me the day I found out you were gone?”

“What?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Tatsuki finishes. “He wouldn’t even look me in the eye --”

“-- he was guilty!” 

“I know, ‘Hime, I really do, but think about this from my perspective here,” Tatsuki says. “An orange haired punk that I practically raised after his mom died, not only took my best friend off my hands, he absolutely _refused_ to tell me where she is. I had to follow him with _Keigo and Mizuro_ of all people to find out what he was upto! Do you know how hard it was for me to wake up one morning and not feel you anymore? To call your aunt and lie to her about where you were? To see Ichigo running around with a bunch of weird looking adults that had no place interfering in his life in the first place? Don’t even get me started on that weird fucking hat guy, he gives me the creeps.” 

They've talked about this before, but Orihime knows it's good to let Tatsuki air it out again. This year's been hard on all of them. 

“I’m sorry,” Orihime says, feeling a dry sob coming on somewhere deep in her belly. “Things just got so out of hand and no one knew what to do and...and I won’t lie to you I feel really guilty about this -- part of it was kind of fun in the way that we had this secret thing going on that no one else knew, like some kind of adventure.” 

“Until you got kidnapped.”

“Until I got kidnapped,” Orihime agrees. “That’s when...when it got serious.” Part of her still has a hard time processing that their trip to Soul Society could have ended in Rukia’s _execution_ and that it was not some quirky summer vacation they’d taken. It’s because Ichigo wins his fights that they have the luxury to not imagine what would happen if he loses. 

“I know.” Tatsuki sighs, rubbing at her eyebrows. “I don’t blame him and I’m not mad at him. If anything, I blame his dad. If his mom was here, I’d bet you good money she’d _never_ let this happen. She was a good mom. She had her frickin’ shit together.” 

Orihime swallows lightly. She wonders if that would be true for her too. Sora was, to all intents and purposes, her parent and in the 12 years they had together, the most grievous injury she’d ever had was a scar on her knee from a fall she took down the stairs. With a kid as clumsy and loose-limbed as her, it was only a testament to how put together Sora must have been. She thinks about it all the time, with pride and melancholy. 

“Do you really think that, what you said earlier?” Orihime asks quietly, watching the credits roll. “That Ichigo took me off your hands?” 

Tatsuki looks pensive now, rubbing at her chin. “Yes and no,” she says honestly. “Yes in the way that I now have to share you with three dumb boys but no in the way that I know you still love me more than you love them.”

Orihime grins at her teasing words and leans up to kiss her cheek. “I do love you. I thought about you every day when I was gone.” 

Tatsuki flushes. “Me too.” She taps Orihime’s knee lightly, after a while. “Come on, let’s finish those lineups or Ryo will never let us hear the end of it.”

She falls asleep on the couch sometime after Tatsuki leaves. And when she sleeps, she dreams.

The dream starts off like it usually does, with no real conceivable plot -- just a string of random people and random places that wouldn’t really connect in any dimension except her brain. Pesche and Dondochakka are there, which she subconsciously registers to tell Chad about when she wakes up. 

Then, it twists. The atmosphere becomes a little colder, the dark skies a bellwether for snow. She’s flying somewhere, she thinks. No. She's _riding_ something. She’s on something soft and navy blue, a sports jacket of some sort, with the number 3 on it. 

She recoils with surprise. She’s riding _Sora’s_ back. That’s Sora’s jacket. Her arms are tight around his shoulder, but they’re small. She’s small. Sora doesn’t turn back to look at her, but she _knows_ it’s him -- it’s instinctual, in the way that works only by dream logic. It’s her brother and she’s four years old again but there’s no context further than that. 

They’re darting past some familiar fisheries and warehouses by a slimy-looking river. Fog rises thickly everywhere, obscuring their vision. Sora slides and trips a couple of times, his long limbs trying to balance her weight on her shoulders while also trying to run very fast. She wants to tell him to slow down, but her lips remain solidly shut. 

Soon after, they come up on an abandoned shack, a little ramshackled place held together by old wood. Sora’s back is slick with sweat and he’s panting.

There’s some kind of magic here that Orihime really doesn’t like, but he doesn’t pay any heed to her tugging at his clothes. He begins to dislodge her from his shoulders and settles her on his bony hip instead. 

There’s a girl occluding the warehouse entrance. She’s in deep, purple robes that cloak her entire body, except for her nose and her very magenta lips. Orihime’s never seen her before, but the sight of her seems to make Sora tremble. He immediately breaks out in desperation. 

“Please!” he begs. “Please you have to help her.” 

Orihime wants to console him, wants to cradle his too-big face in her too-little hands but she’s paralysed. She can’t move and...is Sora bleeding? 

“I know you have it,” he says weakly and Orihime gasps at how young he sounds. Had he always sounded so young? “She needs it. She’s all I have, _please_ , I’m begging you.” 

Orihime looks back and forth between her brother and the girl. The girl doesn’t say anything, just smiles. It’s not a warm smile by any stretch and Orihime really wants Sora to back away from her but they both remain absolutely still. Her brother’s hand tightens around her.

The girl parts her lips, ready to speak, but all Orihime hears is white noise. Smoke rises thickly from her mouth until all she can see is her hands and the blood on Sora’s shirt.

_Wait_ , she wants to say, _I can’t hear you!_

She wakes up with a jolt. She blinks owlishly. Pale morning light filters through her windows and her back hurts from the angle she was sleeping in. She stands up and stretches out her muscles, feeling a low thrum of excitement in her belly. It’s the final today, and all her friends are going to be there to watch. The prospect of winning the cup, coupled with the adrenaline from her dream start sparking up her nerves. 

The giant clock on the wall says it’s only five a.m but Orihime doesn’t think she can fall back to sleep now anyway. 

She pads into the kitchen and untacks her calendar from the Chappy fridge magnet. She figures she can always start scheduling her week while she’s still free. She picks up her highlighters and walks back to the hall. 

“Morning!” 

Orihime blinks again. Her Shun Shun Rikka are all inches from her face, floating in a hexagon. 

“Hi,” she says, feeling a flood of relief rush back to her face. They haven’t visited her since Hueco Mundo, but she sure is glad to see them. “I’ve missed you.” 

Lily and Ayame sweep to her hands, curling her fingers around them for a hug. 

“We’ve missed you too.” Ayame cheers.

“Totally!” Lily says, pressing a kiss to Orihime’s pinkie. 

“Is that a new tattoo?” Orihime asks, poking Lily’s shoulder. She’s always had the asagao tattooed on her lower back, but the cluster of stars scattered across her collarbone is new. Orihime holds out her palm and Lily plants her tiny feet on it, a barely-there touch on her skin. 

“Do you like it?” Lily beams, giving a neat little twirl. 

“It’s beautiful.” Orihime says appreciatively. It looks dark and glowy in the quiet morning light, the spindles of stars spreading out across pale skin. 

Baigon clears his throat. He’s wearing a dark vest and gray sweatpants, like always, reminding her a little of Chad, the way he towers over the rest of them. He’s never actually spoken to her -- she doesn’t think he can -- but he nods respectfully at her anyway. She bows. 

“You’ve had a nightmare.” Tsubaki says accusingly, flicking her forehead with a tiny finger. “And you’re checking out tattoos?”

“Hush, Tsu,” Lily scolds. “You’re just jealous you can’t get one.”

“How _do_ you get one?” Orihime asks, looking curiously back and forth between Lily and Tsubaki. 

“Shun’O gave me one,” Lily explains, elbowing Shun’O in the side. Their sandy hair has grown a little past their shoulders, but they still look sophisticated and elegant. 

All of them follow Orihime into the kitchen, as they watch her make tea. She offers it to them, too, but everyone except Tsubaki refuses. She pours the tea into one of her baby spoons and hands it to him, before leaning against the counter to watch them. 

“We sensed your reiatsu getting unstable again, so we thought we’d drop by and see what’s up. Did you have a nightmare?” Hinagiku asks. 

Orihime swallows nervously. “Kind of?” she says. She doesn’t know why, but it feels more like a memory than a nightmare for some reason but she doesn’t tell them this. “Sora was in it.”

Ayame nods sympathetically. “Was Nnoitora in it, as well?”

“That fucking bastard --” Tsubaki begins to growl but Baigon cuts him off with a sharp look. A little bit of hot tea spills over his torso and he cusses again.

Orihime raises her eyebrows. “Nnoitora?”

“You were clutching your throat,” Lily says gently. “We thought you might have been dreaming about what he did to you again, so we wanted to wake you but Shun’O said no.”

Orihime looks down at her tea, feeling tears inadvertently fill in her eyes. “N-no,” she says, softly. “It wasn’t that.” She feels the ghost of Nnoitora’s hand curl around her throat again, his fingers ramming into her throat. A gush of tea comes up to her throat and she bolts to the sink to spit it out. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Ayame says, as the others crowd to hold her hair back. “Probably shouldn’t have reminded you of that, first thing in the morning.”

Orihime shakes her head, exhaling out a dry sob. She squeezes her eyes shut, blinks a few times and then turns to face her fairies again. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t you _dare_ apologize, woman,” Tsubaki roars. “I won’t hear it!” 

Orihime smiles weakly, patting him on the head, hoping actions will make up where words can’t come out. He doesn’t look too happy about that, but he allows it. 

“Anyway,” Lily says. “The real reason we all _should_ have gathered here is to wish you luck.” 

“Wish me luck?” Orihime echoes.

Baigon floats past her ear and brings back the schedule. He points to the date.

“It’s the football final today, remember?” Hinagiku reminds her. “You’ve been training for this all month, you planned positions last night -- don’t tell me you forgot.”

“Right!” Orihime grins, at their confused faces. “No, I remembered, I just didn’t think _you guys_ knew about that.”

She knows a very limited amount about her powers, but ever since they kept her company in Las Noches, she’s felt something shift between them. They’ve gotten closer emotionally, sure, but it seems her fairies are now tapping into her memories and dreams as well. Orihime would be happy, if she wasn’t so perturbed about the idea of them seeing everything that happened at Las Noches. 

“Relax,” Lily says, like she’s reading Orihime’s mind. “We might be a part of you but we’ll keep our boundaries.”

“We don’t want a repeat of this morning,” Hinagiku adds, shooting a glare at Ayame.

“Anyway,” Tsubaki says loudly. “What’s done is done. Go kick some ass today or we’ll all be very disappointed in you and won’t come out the next time you call us.”

“I won’t disappoint you!” Orihime promises. 

They all disappear one by one, leaving the house to a sudden silence again. All but Shun’O, that is. 

“You sensed it, too, didn’t you? Your reiatsu felt different this time,” Shun’O explains, settling on the handle of her mug now that she’s put it down. “Not like it usually is during a dream. Is it possible you were conjuring up a memory?”

“I don’t know.” she replies, honestly. “It felt very real, very familiar.” 

Shun’O nods seriously, resting their chin in their hand. “I know you’ve been under a lot of duress,” they say. “But it wouldn’t kill you to get some sleep, you know? It gets very loud and _buzzy_ in there when you’re low on battery power.” 

“In where, exactly?”

“You know how your shinigami friends have an inner world?” Shun’O says. “We’ve got something similar.”

“Wow,” Orihime gasps. “What’s it like? Can I come visit?”

Shun’O smiles, pressing the back of their hand to her cheek. “Maybe someday. But for now you should focus on getting to school and maybe later figuring out that dream of yours. It really caused a big stir in there.” 

He flickers out, leaving behind more questions than answers. She supposes she’ll have to visit Urahara soon. What for, she doesn’t know, but a trip down there wouldn’t hurt. She recalls Tatsuki’s words, calling him a creep, and frowns. 

She marks out a little square on her calendar in green, writing _‘Urahara?’_ before heading towards the shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: though the anime apparently downplayed the scene between nnoitora and orihime drastically, the scene in this fic builds from the manga chapters where nnoitora restrained orihime by putting his fingers in her mouth. This is talked about in one sentence.
> 
> There is also mentions of abuse by sora and orihime's parents, but none of that is discussed in graphic detail. orihime remembers being injured in the dream, but apart from bleeding there is no further discussion of the nature/way she received those injuries.


	2. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble brews in town, the girls play some football, Ishida does some Big Brain Thinking and Karin might have a crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've decided to post three chapters before waiting to post the rest. Yay to me for Figuring Ao3 Out I guess?

The one thing that surprises Chad is how fast the city council's managed to erect the playground back up again. The last time he was here, Ulquiorra and Yammi had decidedly turned the place into a _wreck_. 

Beside him, it looks like Ichigo is thinking the same thing, but Chad doesn't have time to ask because Karin's on his shoulders and Karin is very demanding of attention. 

"What I want to know is why they're having the match here and not in your school," Karin says flatly, in a complaining tone not unlike Ichigo's. It wasn't until Chad started hanging out with other Kurosaki that he realized how much groaning ran in the family. 

"Middle ground." Chad explains. 

"I didn't ask you to come, you know," Ichigo says, albeit lightly. "You _followed_ us." 

"Because I wanted to see Tatsuki play, duh," Karin says.

Chad glances at Ichigo, whose eyebrows twitch at the mention of Tatsuki, but he doesn't say anything. He doesn't have to -- Chad knows. That's just how it is with them. 

"Inoue's Vice Captain," Chad distracts, as they enter the field. He sets Karin down. There's a small crowd already, mixed with both home and away colors. Chad and Ichigo themselves are wearing a royal, navy blue in support of the Karakura girls, so it's easy to fit in among a wave of other students wearing blue. 

"Inoue, like Inoue Orihime?" Karin asks suddenly, her voice all faux casual. 

"Yeah, what other Inoue do you know?" Ichigo asks. They clamber up the podium, finding a place directly above the field. 

Somewhere below, Tatsuki and Orihime are stretching. They're already in their black-and-blue kits, making motions with their hands as they survey the field. Orihime's hair is tied into a high ponytail that does absolutely nothing to hold back her bangs, but it makes her look so much more different than she usually does. 

"Wow," Karin breathes. "She's _so_ pretty."

Chad raises his eyebrow. In all his life, he's never heard Karin Kurosaki ever utter the word 'pretty' in regards to anything even vaguely human. He doesn't know what to say to that, so he quips with, "You think so?" 

"Heck yeah, what the hell?" Karin bursts, looking at Chad like he's grown another head. She knocks Ichigo's side with her elbow. "Is she any good? You think you can introduce me?" 

Ichigo looks at her weirdly now. "You've met her before."

"But not in person," Karin argues. "And you never told me she plays football either. I had a totally different impression of her from what I've heard." 

"Most people do." Chad agrees. 

Almost like she hears them, Orihime turns over her shoulder to wave at them. They wave back. It's probably their reiatsu that alerts her. Chad wonders how Ichigo might feel from here on out; he still has inklings of his powers left, but not enough to sense spiritual energy, from what he said last time. Chad looks away guiltily.

"Gotta be honest, I didn't know Orihime made Vice Captain," Ichigo admits. "How did she have the time for that?" 

Chad shrugs. He's only recently gotten around to finishing his own pending schoolwork and he knows Ichigo is still stuck in Chemistry remedials. "She's been working really hard." 

"I guess so," Ichigo glances around his shoulder. "Speaking of, where's Ishida?" 

Karin raises her eyebrows. "He's coming too?" 

"He designed the uniforms," Ichigo says at the same time Chad says, "He promised Orihime he'd be here." 

While they're waiting, one of Karin's classmates -- introducing himself as Reo -- comes to join them. He and Karin discuss football prospects while Ichigo and Chad hang back. He's kind of loud and annoying, and Chad can tell from the way Ichigo hunches his shoulders that he thinks so too. They lock gazes and smirk. 

"Isn't that Inoue Orihime?" Reo suddenly points to the bottom of the podium, where Orihime and Ishida are coming up together. "Like _the_ Inoue Orihime?" 

Karin quirks an eyebrow. "How do you know her?" 

"I'm basically in love with her," Reo says sheepishly. "I see her practicing with the other girls sometimes and she seems real sweet." 

"You don't even know her," Karin says dryly. 

"And you do?" he demands. 

Karin juts her thumb back to Ichigo. "She's friends with my brother." 

Ichigo crosses his arms. "Thought you just said you wanted me to introduce her." 

Chad grins at the absolute Asshole Big Brother-y move he pulls, earning a deep scowl from Karin. 

"Who's side are you on?!" 

They don't have time to answer her, because Orihime and Ishida come up to them now. Reo ducks behind Chad the second she arrives, but Karin stands confidently at Ichigo's side. 

"You're late," Ichigo comments at Ishida. 

"You're awfully concerned." Ishida barks back. 

Once they finish this weird greeting ritual, they settle at Chad's sides in agreeable silence. Orihime looks back and forth between them and shoots Chad an affectionate smile. 

"Orihime," Ichigo says, shoving Karin to the front. "You've met my sister, Karin." 

Karin's eyes go wide at that, her cheeks flaring up a light pink. “H-hey.” 

"Oh, hi!" Orihime says, smiling at her. "I've heard a lot about you, so it's nice to finally meet you. Thanks for coming out to cheer for us." 

"Uh, you're pro-- um. No problem. You're welcome." Karin stutters. "Good luck." She turns her head and shoves her hands into her pockets, refusing to participate in the conversation again. Reo snickers at her, still carefully concealed behind Chad. 

Orihime turns to Chad. "Anyway, the real reason I'm here is to give you this," she drops her hair clips into his palm. "Mind holding onto it for me?" 

Chad flashes her a thumbs up. 

She beams at him, before darting back to the field. 

"She looks kinda tired, don't you think?" Ichigo remarks. 

Ishida snorts. "She's in two clubs _and_ she has a job. If anything, it's a surprise she's still standing." 

Chad watches her, taking position in the midfield. Tatsuki flanks her from behind, in their classic midfield-attack line-up that they've played for two years now. He knows because he and Ichigo trained them, as goalies, sometime in these past three years that they've gotten closer. 

"Do you think it's because…" Chad doesn't finish. He doesn't know how. Do you think it's because she's traumatised and hates being alone now? Do you think she needs us? Because we'd fall apart without her. We did. 

He doesn't say it, half because Karin's here and half because Ishida's already caught his drift. Ichigo doesn't say anything, watching the field silently. Chad watches him flex his fingers, like he's been doing lately, ever since he's started losing his powers. 

"I tried to convince her to drop football for the Student Council," Ishida says. "But she says it's the only time she gets to spend with Arisawa, so I guess I'll be stuck with someone like Michiru again." 

"Or Mahana." Chad points out and Ishida makes a face. 

On the field, a sharp whistle blows. Karakura loses the toss, so they start on the back foot with the away team getting the ball. Chad doesn't remember their names, just that they're about to be totally crushed by the Karakura High girls. It hasn't even been a full three minutes since the game's begun and Ryo already intercepts the ball from their rivals. She passes it on to Orihime, who quickly nudges it to Tatsuki before darting to the left edge of the field. 

Tatsuki aims a kick towards Orihime, but she's blocked by one of the rival girls. She's tall, and she obscures the view Tatsuki and Orihime have of each other, but Orihime deftly nutmegs her, the ball speeding between the tall girl's feet. 

"Holy shit," Reo says. "She's amazing." 

Tatsuki gets the ball again and this time, she vectors straight to the goal post. She angles the kick swiftly, the ball soaring past the goalie and eventually hitting the net. 

"Quite typical of Tatsuki to waste no time getting a goal in," Karin grins. "She's a badass." 

"She trained you, didn't she?" Chad nudges her head with his knuckle. 

"Me _and_ Ichigo." Karin says. "Though she always joked that only one of us developed the penchant for it." 

Chad grins. Ichigo's not half-bad at football, but he's obviously no Tatsuki. Ichigo grumbles something vague but he’s grinning too. 

Back on the field, Orihime speeds past the defender, receiving the ball with a low dribble. She's immediately flanked on both sides by the other team, but she nudges her way out of it and passes it on to Mahana. Mahana gives chase for a while, waiting for Orihime to position herself directly behind the goal. When Mahana kicks, the ball soars high in the air. 

"Too high!" Karin shouts. 

Orihime, however, drops onto her bottom and raises her leg up high. The weight of it sends the ball high, too high for the goalie to intercede. It hits the net with a resounding 'thwack'. 

"A bicycle kick?" Reo comments, his voice doing that awkward puberty screech. 

" _So_ pretty," Karin says dreamily. 

"You should tell her," Ichigo says to her. 

"Why?" Karin asks, looking mortified 

"It'd make her happy." He shrugs. 

Chad’s about to say something when his hand feels suddenly _cold_. Not his hand, but the pins in them. He opens up his palm, but the light blue metal looks fine. Nothing out of the ordinary, not even a glint. 

Yet, there’s a sharp, ringing vibration that makes his ears hurt. Not reiatsu, exactly, but some kind of thick pressure on the outer edge of the field. He calibrates, trying to adjust his own energy to sense this foreign one. His eyes follow the source, feeling it resonate from somewhere behind the overgrowth of trees. 

There’s a figure there, a woman. She’s in dark purple robes, hovering behind one of the bigger trees. She’s barely visible, only half of her silhouette sticking out from the shadows, but this weird pressure in the air is definitely her. She raises her head, and though her eyes are covered by the cloak, Chad feels like she’s looking straight at him. 

Then, she turns her heel and begins to walk away. 

Chad turns to the group. Ichigo, Karin and Reo are all still invested in the game, but Ishida seems to be frowning in the direction of the trees as well. He tugs Ishida’s elbow and speaks quietly into his ear. “Did you feel that?”

Ishida nods grimly. “Lets go.” 

But Chad shoots a dubious look at Ichigo and the others. They obviously can’t take him along, but telling him the truth would only make him want to come with. Not to mention, if there is some kind of danger, he’s better off with his sister, where Orihime can defend them both. In the worst case scenario, he reminds himself. In the worst case scenario. That’s how they plan things these days. 

“Well, it looks like the girls are clearly winning,” Ishida carefully announces to the group. “So we’re gonna go…”

“Buy some soda and snacks,” Chad finishes. “To celebrate.” 

Ichigo raises his eyebrows. “You sure? I mean, you’re still coming to mine later, right?”

“We’ll meet you there.” Ishida assures, shooting Chad an urgent look. Chad quickly stands up and follows Ishida out of their seats. He can feel Karin and Ichigo’s eyes on their backs, but he hopes they at least bought some of it. 

Once they’re out of their aisle, they both immediately set into motion, shouldering through the large crowd. He can still see the figure in the distance, cutting through the business district and entirely out of sight. On the field, Orihime is still focused on the game, so Chad wonders if she felt it too. He regrets not being here to congratulate her once the game ends, but it’s not like they completely abandoned her. Tatsuki and Ichigo will still be there.

“Whatever that was,” Ishida mumbles quietly, shoving aside a group of very annoying guys blocking the exit. “It was neither shinigami nor Hollow.” 

“I didn’t like how it felt.” Chad admits. “Weird energy.” 

“I think I saw it go that way,” Ishida says, pointing in the direction of the buildings Chad saw it disappear into. “Let’s hurry, Sado!”

“Yep!”

____ 

The Karakura girls, to no one’s surprise, manage to win 2-1. They were in great form all season, but today’s match seals the deal. They’re taking home the cup, second year in a row. Tatsuki for one would be perfectly happy to never play another match again because today felt like a grand finale to hours and hours of gruelling practice.

Sweat trickles down her back belatedly as she runs across the field to hug Orihime, but Orihime is nowhere to be seen. Tatsuki frowns, scanning the area. She senses her somewhere in the vicinity, but she’s not here. Not on the field, not on the podiums with Ichigo and the others. 

She yanks Mahana’s sleeve gently. “Oi! You see Orihime anywhere?”

Mahana shakes her head, looking a little miffed at Tatsuki’s behavior. “ _No_ , Tatsuki.”

“Sorry,” she mumbles, letting go of her. “Good work today, by the way.” Mahana shakes her head and runs off. 

Tatsuki jogs up to the podiums, her legs all watery. Orihime probably had to pee or grab a quick post-game snack or something. There was no need to worry, not when she could feel her presence in the back of her mind. 

“Tatsuki!” Karin roars, barrelling at her. She barely has time to steady herself before the kid comes crashing into her. “You. Were. Awesome!!!” 

She grins. “Undefeated, baby!” She ruffles Karin’s hair, following her to where her idiot brother was. “You take any pointers away from this?”

“Hell yeah,” Karin exclaims. “You have to come over and teach me how you got the others to agree with a 4-4-2 because my attackers absolutely refuse to take risks and it’s driving me crazy.” Her voice sounds a little more mature, despite the fact that she still talks like a kid. She’s grown, Tatsuki registers, a little alarmed. 

Tatsuki’s never had siblings, but Karin and Yuzu come close. Ichigo, too, but neither of them will ever admit this out loud to anyone but Orihime and Chad. She wraps an arm around Karin and squeezes. “Anytime, kiddo. It’s been long since we hung out.” 

Karin looks pleased with this. Ahead, Ichigo and some kid are talking, Ichigo’s hands jammed awkwardly in his pockets. 

“Hey,” he says, with a nod that he probably thinks is Cool and Casual. “Congratulations.” 

“Thanks,” she says, rolling her eyes at Karin. She misses ribbing him with the kids. 

They stare at each other for a second. Tatsuki’s eyes are fixed and cool, effortless in her suave unlike Ichigo, who’s had to put up a tough front his entire life to cover up for his actually dorky, shy interior. It used to make her so mad when they were kids, how soft spoken and awkward he was. Until he grew up and became _this_ , she thinks. His eyes are dark and blank, waiting for her to give in and make the first move, and she has to laugh. She wonders who he thinks he’s fooling with the Tough Kid act. Maybe the shinigami, but definitely not her. 

Ichigo gives up. “Chad and Ishida ran off somewhere,” he admits, turning to survey the field. 

“So did Orihime,” Tatsuki says, satisfied, now that she’s won the silent confrontation. “I don’t know where she is.” Funny, the last time she said that, one of them ended up with a pretty bad scar at the back of his head. According to Orihime, he never let her heal it when she got back, which oddly flatters Tatsuki for some reason.

“I saw her run out of the field,” the kid says, importantly. “It was just after the match ended.”

Tatsuki glances at him. “Hi. Do I know you?”

Ichigo snorts. “He’s in love with Orihime, apparently. Figured that was your department.” 

The kid goes beet red, inching away from Tatsuki. Well, she does have a reputation for being protective, but what did he think she was going to do? Launch him to the moon? His eyes are paralysed in fear, so wide she can see the back of his skull through his pupils. 

“Uh, I’ll catch ya later, Karin!” the kid says, sprinting away. “Bye Karin’s brother!” 

“That’s a new one,” Ichigo grumbles and Karin grins. 

“What, you really thought I was gonna drop-kick a thirteen year old for having a crush on Orihime?” Tatsuki elbows him, shaking her head. 

“Apparently you’ve got a reputation for that,” Karin comments, swaying from one foot to the other, looking at Tatsuki curiously.

“Drop kicking thirteen year olds?” Tatsuki frowns. There’s no shortage of rumors about high school that travel to middle school but she’d be genuinely worried if people are saying things like that.

“Going all beast mode for Orihime,” Karin says. “What, is everyone like in love with her or something?” She says this with the flair of someone who didn’t just spend the last hour falling a little in love with Orihime herself. 

Something shifts at the mention of ‘beast mode’ because Ichigo turns away now, very fixedly examining a leaf on the floor with his toe. Tatsuki knows why, Orihime told her about what he did, but this isn’t really the time or place to goad him, so she just shrugs. 

“If you knew her, you’d get it,” Tatsuki says simply, clapping Karin’s shoulder. “Speaking of, where the heck is she?”

“I’ll call Chad,” Ichigo says vaguely.

Tatsuki regards him. “You know what? Let's just go to yours. They’ll catch up.” 

“You sure?” Ichigo stammers, scratching his ear. 

She scoffs. “Lead the way, Karin.”

Karin looks back and forth with raised eyebrows. “You guys beefing or something?”

“I’ll give you a play-by-play of mine and Orihime’s training drills for this game if you don’t ask any questions,” Tatsuki offers. Karin is reasonable, she does good with negotiations. 

“Deal,” Karin agrees. “Though, if you _do_ have a problem you can pretty easily kick his ass you know. Doesn’t matter if he’s a death god or not anymore.” Ichigo scowls at her, a funny, childish look on the face of a guy who’s been to war and helped commit treason. 

“Oh, I know,” Tatsuki grins, and they all follow Karin out of the podium.

____ 

Unfortunately, the trail goes cold twenty minutes into their search.

Uryuu and Chad manage to give chase right until the business district, but the city square is so packed with people that their intuition for spiritual energy starts thinning out. It’s almost dusk, so the prospect of spotting the figure again is low. 

Uryuu grabs both his knees, panting. It’s been a while since he’s run around like this and even though his wounds have healed, his stomach still feels the burning, tearing sensation at any physical activity. He’s pushed himself too far. He feels it in his stomach, in his limbs. 

“You okay?” Chad asks. He’s leaning against a building, catching his own breath. 

“I’ll manage,” Uryuu quips, standing up straight again. “That thing we saw...you reckon it was there for Kurosaki?”

“Actually…” Chad starts, staring at the pins in his palm, tightly clutched. He doesn’t have time to finish his theory, because they both see Orihime sprinting towards them. Her forehead is slick with sweat, her limbs muddy from all the kicking around in the field but her face is still flushed with energy.

“Inoue?” Chad says blankly. "Is the game over?" 

“Did I miss her?” she gasps, catching up to them. “The girl?”

Chad and Uryuu share a look. 

“You sensed her too?” Uryuu asks, crossing his arms. “Also why in the world would you run here when you’re this exhausted? We were handling it.”

“He’s right.” Chad picks a blade of grass from her hair. “But…” He eyes her pins again.

“It’s probably nothing,” Uryuu says. “But we’ll never know because we lost track of her twenty minutes ago. Have you seen her before, Orihime?” 

Orihime frowns. “In a dream.” 

They all stand in silence, watching the crowd amble by as Orihime explains the dream to them.

Like Uryuu said, Chad doesn’t think it means anything. If she truly was an imminent danger, she would have attacked them right on the field, right? There were moments in this last hour where every single one of them had either separated from each other -- like Ichigo, Chad and Ishida -- or separated from their powers -- like Orihime and her pins. That would have been an ideal time to strike, but the fact that they’re all still breathing…

“Until we have more information, we’ll still need to keep our guards up,” Uryuu says authoritatively. “That reiatsu was something familiar, but not like anything we’ve felt before.” He regards Chad and Orihime. “I’ll drop a word in with Mr. Urahara, so he and Yoruichi can keep an eye out, but until then I think we should call it a day.” 

“I’m guessing we aren’t going to tell Ichigo about this?” Chad glances at his watch. They should have been in his house by now and if they take any longer, he’s definitely going to come looking for them. 

Uryuu sighs. Orihime bites her lip. 

“If we keep things from him, he might feel left out and lonely,” Orihime admits. “He’ll definitely realize, one way or another, and we might end up hurting his feelings.”

“I understand, but in his state there really isn’t anything he _can_ do,” Uryuu excuses. “If we tell him and it _does_ turn out to be a big threat, he’ll just feel helpless and despaired over not being able to protect us or whatever else ridiculous promise he’s made to himself.” He pushes his glasses back up his nose pensively in his Ishida Is Thinking way. “Judging how he didn’t even sense the girl slightly, it’s safe to assume he’s losing the last dregs of his power. The best thing we can do right now is to handle this ourselves, with the consultation of questionable but certainly knowledgeable adults that might have information about this kind of stuff.” 

Chad looks between Orihime and Uryuu. “Both of you are right,” he says, surprising them and himself. “So for now, we should just head back to his house and spend the evening normally.” He regards Orihime. “If we spend time with him, he’s not going to feel left out,” He turns to Ishida. “And if we act normally, he’s not going to notice anything and worry about us.” He claps Orihime’s shoulder. 

“Good idea,” she agrees, looking relieved. “Let’s go then.”

“Hold on,” Uryuu says, looking mildly panicked. He slaps the bottom of his jeans and his pockets. “We said we’d bring soda and snacks, didn’t we?”

“Shit,” Chad muttered, feeling his own pockets up. “I forgot to bring my wallet.” 

Orihime laughs. “Why don’t we just head to mine? You guys can pack some of my bakery leftovers while I take a quick shower and get ready.” She pulls out her phone. “I’ll text Tatsuki and tell her, so they don’t get suspicious.” 

They all begin heading back to Orihime’s apartment, the cool breeze and dipping sun making for nice evening weather. Inside her place, it’s dark and quiet, like it always is. She fumbles around with the lighting, before heading into the kitchen. Chad and Uryuu awkwardly follow, not knowing where else to go. They’re not used to coming to a friend’s house where there’s no aloof father, nosy roommates or loud family coming in to interrupt them. It’s just quiet, the only other person in the room being not even a person -- her brother’s portrait. 

She props open a low cabinet with her leg. “This is where I keep my bakery stash,” she explains. “There’s blueberry muffins, hot cross buns and fresh oatmeal cookies -- pack a few of those specifically, because one of Ichigo’s sisters really likes them, though I can’t remember which one.” She opens another cabinet on top. “There’s tupperware here for packing, so don’t be shy to separate them all into boxes.” 

“Are we - are we taking all of this?” Chad stutters. It seems a little unfair to raid Orihime’s kitchen like this, especially since her boss gives these to her for free. He feels guilty for not having brought his wallet. Uryuu, beside him, looks just about the same. 

“Tatsuki and Ichigo both eat enough to feed a small family,” Orihime supplies easily, shouldering past them and towards her bathroom. “Make sure you close everything once you’re done! I’m depending on you guys!” 

They snap into movement at that, assorting the bakery goods into various tupperware boxes. Chad sends a picture to Ichigo, half as evidence and half because he knows Ichigo’s stomach is bound to rumble at the sight of these gorgeous muffins. 

Somewhere inside, they hear the shower water running. 

“You think it came for her, don’t you?” Uryuu asks quietly, stacking cookies one on top of the other.

“Her hair pins became cold,” Chad explains, watching him. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence she dreamt of this spirit too, if we can call it that.”

Uryuu’s mouth sets into a firm line. “To think we just got back from Hueco Mundo,” he complains, shaking his head. “This town is chock full of strange occurrences and _coincidences_ , and it all makes zero sense.” 

“ _Coincidences?_ ” Chad echoes. 

“Not to ruin the inherent appeal in fate bringing us and our friends together and all that,” Uryuu says. “But has it ever occurred to you how weird it is that our town is so infused with spiritual energy? Kurosaki’s father -- and mine -- could have chosen to settle anywhere but they came here. So did Urahara and Yoruichi. So did your family, and Orihime’s.” 

“I thought Orihime and her brother lived here all their lives.” 

Uryuu rests his chin between his index and middle, like he’s pondering. “She said her brother moved them here when she was three,” he explains. “They lived a few towns over, if I’m not wrong -- them and their parents.”

Chad glanced at Sora’s portrait. Orihime never talks about her parents much but they all have a rough idea of what could have gone on for her brother to run away from home with her. Yet… 

“You’re saying it’s not a coincidence,” Chad says, like it’s a question. 

“I’m saying it’s awfully convenient that a town like this has a lot of spiritual power compared to the demographics of other towns,” Uryuu explains. “I asked Kuchiki about it once and she said it’s definitely weird. Most towns have sparse ghost populations. Ours has one on every other street.” Not to mention the other weird energy signatures, like the girl they saw today.

“We also subsequently have a lot of Hollows,” Chad points out, traversing across Uryuu’s line of thinking. “Other towns...probably don’t have as many?”

“Exactly. Though that’s probably the result of many souls being here in the first place.” 

Orihime bustles out of the shower now, in a light pink sweater and tracks. She looks at Chad and Uryuu expectantly, but Uryuu doesn’t stop his explanation. All snack boxes have been abandoned for conspiracy theories now. 

“But think about it,” he continues. “Eleven captain and lieutenant-class shinigami all defected across a span of 100 odd years -- the Visoreds, Kurosaki’s father, Urahara, Tessai and Yoruichi. Though the times they abandoned are all different, they all ended up here. In this town that’s merely a speck between rivers and industries, a _three-hour drive_ from the nation’s capital.” A nowhere wedged between somewheres. 

“What does it all mean?” Orihime wonders, looking spooked and fascinated in equal measure. She’s only been here for half the story, but Uryuu’s thinking-out-loud sets a curious atmosphere in the air. 

“More importantly,” Ishida says. “Why Karakura?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! :)


	3. chapter 3

It takes beating Ichigo thirteen times at _Tekken_ for Tatsuki to finally be normal with him again. That’s almost a track record for them; younger Tatsuki had the temper of a wild boar. It would take her all sorts of things, from calling him mean names to pummelling him at the dojo for her to calm down. Not that he minded. For every injury she created, she’d bandaid ten other scrapes that hurt far worse -- both physical and emotional. 

“You’re an idiot,” she says, with a sigh, once Karin gets bored and leaves the room. 

“I know,” he says quietly. 

“Do you know why?” Tatsuki asks. “It wasn’t because you weren’t strong enough or that other crap you use to melt Orihime and Chad’s already soft hearts.” 

Ichigo snorts. “Why am I an idiot, then?"

“It’s because you’re too empathetic,” Tatsuki says. “You’ll never hold anyone accountable for anything because you’re too busy standing in their shoes and _forgiving_ them.”

His first reaction is to deny it. There’s an inherent embarrassment in how Arisawa Tatsuki can read him like a book, but perhaps that might be a little unfair. Upon their return from Hueco Mundo, she’d made both him _and_ Orihime swear to never keep things from her again or she’d have their heads on a pike before their enemies did. So he decides to be honest. 

“Uh, what’s this about?” he asks. He won’t deny empathy -- it’s something that he personally thinks humanizes him in battle. It keeps him from crossing the threshold between human and monster, duty and instinct, and all that other crap his enemies gave him shit for. Or at least it used to. He doesn't think he'll ever battle again. 

“Your dad,” Tatsuki answers and well, he wasn’t expecting that. “Aren’t you pissed at him for keeping so much from you and your sisters?”

“I know this is kind of like proving your point,” Ichigo says slowly. “But whatever he did, he must have had his reasons for it. I’ve never been a dad, nor have I ever had to take decisions like he did, so I can’t presume I’d do any better if I was in the same situation.” 

Tatsuki groans. “You’re just like Orihime, I hate it.”

Ichigo raises his eyebrows. He wouldn’t say that, not by a long stretch, and he wonders what would make Tatsuki even think that until he remembers Loly and Menoly -- or whatever those two chicks’ names were. “Forgiving abuse is very different from forgiving your dad for keeping secrets from you,” he says quietly. “I’m sure your mom’s got secrets of her own, like that one time she was seeing that guy from accounting with the weird accent --”

“You keep my mother out of this,” Tatsuki warns, though she has a small smile on her face. “But I know. You’re right, that was out of line, I’m sorry. I’m just worried about you, that’s all.” 

“Seriously?” Ichigo wonders.

“What?”

“That’s it?” Ichigo folds his legs onto the couch so he can get a better look at her. “No name-calling, no stubbornly insisting you’re right until I give up and let you drink chocolate milk that I pay for?”

“I _earned_ that chocolate milk, dipshit, and that was seven years ago, give it up,” Tatsuki snaps, nudging his chest lightly with her elbow. “But seriously. Take care of yourself, okay? Just ‘cause you’re Mr. Big Shot now doesn’t mean you get to hurt yourself and not get shit from me for it.” 

"I'm not Mr. Big Shot anymore," Ichigo grins. “But point taken, thanks.” 

Somewhere behind them, the door rattles open. They turn over their shoulders. 

“We brought snacks!” Orihime cheers, waving a bag in the air. Chad and Uryuu come in behind her, looking sheepish. 

“Thought you were buying?” Ichigo mentions, raising an eyebrow. 

“Are you saying you’re ungrateful for the hard-earned bakery goods that Orihime brings for us out of the goodness of her heart?” Uryuu demands, glaring at him. 

“You forgot your wallets, didn’t you?” Ichigo asks, a superior smirk on his face. 

“We forgot our wallets,” Chad confirms, sinking into the sofa beside him. Orihime takes the spot on the floor, between Tatsuki’s legs. Uryuu sits beside her. 

Ichigo starts to open the paper bags of bakery goods and it’s almost like setting off a tripwire, because his sisters come bounding into the room. Karin runs in with no shame, Yuzu shyly following her with an equally curious gaze at all the food they’ve got laid out in tupperware boxes. 

“Oatmeal cookies!” Yuzu shrieks, in a high-pitched voice that both grates his ears and melts his heart. Funny, this whole brother thing.

“Didn’t dad ask you not to yell in the house?” Ichigo reminds her, holding the box up high above his head where she can’t reach it. 

“Oh piss off,” Tatsuki tackles him, taking the box back with ease. If they were kids, it might have been a fair fight, but with all the added strength training, he knows she can snatch it because he _lets_ her. “Here you go Yuzu.” 

“Thanks Tatsuki,” Yuzu singsongs, poking her tongue out at Ichigo. She bows to Orihime. “Thank you so much for bringing these.” 

“No problem!” Orihime cheers, making a ‘peace’ sign. 

“Discards again, Orihime?” Ichigo teases, reaching out for a muffin from the box Chad’s holding. 

“You always do this.” Orihime pouts up at him from the floor, her eyes all light and wide. “I’m not bringing you any next time.”

He laughs shortly. 

“You never follow through on your threats,” Uryuu points out, nibbling his own cookies in little bird bites. “Maybe if you did, Kurosaki would stop acting like an --” he glances at Ichigo’s sisters. “Idiot.” he finishes lamely. Ichigo grins devilishly. 

“Oh please don’t,” Yuzu pleads, taking fistfuls of cookies in her hands. “I love these so much.”

“Oi!” Ichigo barks. “They’re not all for you, you know?”

“Yeah, save some discards for us,” Chad teases, nudging Orihime’s head with his knuckles.

“Chad!” she says crossly. “Not you too!” 

“You know you all could _at least_ congratulate my vice captain before you start hounding her and plundering her food,” Tatsuki says, reaching down to pinch Orihime’s cheek lightly. “Tell her what a good job she did today.” 

“Excellent footwork,” Uryuu says, with a nod.  
“Awesome,” Chad adds, with a thumbs up.  
“ _So good,_ ” Ichigo says through mouthfuls of muffins, not really paying attention to what they’re talking about. God, what did they put in these? 

Orihime flushes lightly. “Thank you.” 

“Oh, yeah,” Karin asks, turning to Orihime. “How the hell did you do a bicycle kick? That shit is hard!”

“I have a really persistent coach,” Orihime answers innocently, grinning at Tatsuki. 

“That was really cool,” Karin grumbles. 

“Congratulations,” Yuzu adds pleasantly. “Orihime and Tatsuki!”

Everyone ekes out their congratulations through mouthfuls of food. The baked goods don't even last a good two minutes, with everyone wolfing it down like their lives depend on it. 

"Did you know Mahana was running for Student president?" Tatsuki asks, tapping through her phone. "That's got to be a disaster in the making, right?" 

"Who's Mahana again?" Ichigo asks, but everyone ignores him. 

"Yes," Uryuu dives in forcefully. "A disaster that can be averted if Orihime stands for the elections." 

Orihime shakes her head, like this is the billionth time he's suggesting this. "I told you, I'm not student president material." 

“That is false,” Uryuu says, not having it. “You are very smart and more than capable.” 

“You’re top 3 in our class,” Chad adds. “With only Ishida above you and he doesn’t count.” 

“Why don’t _I_ count?” 

“Well if she’s so smart and pretty why does she hang out with Ichigo?” Karin demands. 

“Oh, don’t be rude, Karin.” Yuzu scolds. 

“You were thinking it, too.” 

Of course. Trust his sisters to roast him in front of his closest friends. If Rukia was here, she’d definitely add fuel to the fire, a deadly combination of three. Ichigo shudders. 

“Not to mention,” Tatsuki says, talking over the twins’ squabble. “You’re popular. If you stood, people would vote for you in hordes. And you’ve got the whole puppy energy, so saying no to you would be extremely hard.”

“We would be a lethal team,” Uryuu says. “It would be just like Soul Society.”

“But a lot more bureaucracy and passive-aggressive girls and a lot less ass-kicking,” Chad opines with a shudder of his own. 

“Oh, stop it you guys,” Orihime begs. “I’m thinking of _dropping_ clubs, not taking more on.” 

“Yeah lets drop football, I’m so over it,” Tatsuki says, glancing down at her. 

“Join the book club,” Chad suggests. “It’s a lot of fun.” 

They all start talking over each other, each with an opposing view over what clubs were fun and what weren’t. Ichigo himself should probably start looking, but for now he just enjoys seeing all his friends talking about something normal like they’re all just regular high school kids. Tatsuki watches him with a knowing look in her eyes. 

“You gonna deck my dad sometime, then?” he asks with a grin, eager to change the subject. 

“Unless you feel some sudden urge to protect him, with all the bull you’ve been spouting lately.” 

“Nah, I want front row tickets.” Ichigo says and Tatsuki chuckles loudly, knocking his shoulder. “He might be my old man but I also really want to see you kick his ass.” 

“I totally could.”

“Oh I know.”

_______ 

Yoruichi and Urahara don’t say a single word throughout the story.

The shop is quiet, a thunderstorm brewing outside. The torrents of water hitting the outer deck reduce everything to a quiet murmur inside the meeting room. When the _shoji_ slides open to let Tessai in, all three of them jump. Orihime, Chad and Ishida, that is.

“So what I’m hearing,” Yoruichi leans forward on her elbows, with a devilish grin. “Is that you kids have a hard time staying out of a good ol’ mystery, huh? You just got back to school and here you are, worried about malevolent spirits.” 

“Ah, or should we say what you _think_ is a malevolent spirit. It could have been a mirage,” Urahara teases. “Karakura gets very hot these days, you know.” He fans himself, to provide emphasis. A loud, crashing thunder ripples across, contradicting him.

“With all due respect,” Chad cuts in. “We all saw it. Orihime dreamt of it the night before, too.”

“And we aren’t mystery-chasing either,” Uryuu adds, waving his hands in front of him. “There’s genuine reason for concern here and I think I speak for all of us when I say we want answers, if you have any.” He glances at the group, like he’s reigning in their support, so Orihime and Chad nod. 

This, Orihime thinks, is the most Student Council President-like behavior he’s ever demonstrated. She feels a tiny sparkle of pride for him, the way he contorts himself with adults. There’s not a lot of people who can ask for something from a grown-up, making it seem like a negotiation instead of a childish tantrum. She sees immense hope for Karakura High’s future under his jurisdiction. Maybe even a career as the nation’s President in the future…

Chad clears his throat. Right. 

“Um, also,” Orihime says softly, bringing in the ‘Kurosaki card’ like they’d discussed. “Since Ichigo’s slowly losing his powers, we want to get to the bottom of this without getting him involved. You know, since he’s been through so much this year for all of us…”

She doesn’t even have to _try_ like Uryuu suggested. Her voice naturally contorts into something tiny and upset at the thought of Ichigo, rendered unprotected without them. Her bottom lip juts out into something wobbly and timid. 

Yoruichi and Urahara quickly share a heavy look; they’ve always been fond of Ichigo, but even moreso, they carry the guilt of two adults having to force a child’s hand into a war too mature for him. 

“Okay, okay,” Urahara relents, in a singsong voice. “We were just teasing, no need to get all teary-eyed on us.”

Uryuu shoots her a small smile. Chad squeezes her shoulder, like they’re both saying _‘Good job.’_

“From what you said, it sounds like there’s definitely a non-ghost spirit of some sort wandering around Karakura,” Yoruichi says, crossing her arms thoughtfully. “Though we haven’t felt anything,” she points at herself and Urahara. “It appears the spirit has made itself known to you. Additionally, it seems like the spirit has some sort of connection to Orihime, her pins, and her brother. Correct?”

All three of them nod. 

“Could be a _yokai_ ,” Tessai suggests, cocking his head at Urahara. “That would explain the strange reiatsu.” 

“Hmm,” Urahara intones. His eyes are dark and pensive under his hat, letting on less than he probably knows as usual. “Could be.” He turns to the kids and points his fan in their direction. “You say it didn’t attack you?”

They shake their heads. 

“In my dream,” Orihime says hesitantly. “My brother was asking it for something.” _She needs it. She’s all I have, please, I’m begging you._ The ‘she’ in question had to have been her, right? “Could...could it be possible he was making an exchange? F-for me?”

Yoruichi and Urahara share another Look, but this time, when they turn back to Orihime, both their features are soft and kind. 

“I get why you’d conclude something like that,” Yoruichi says patiently. “But selling your soul to the devil is a very Western idea. Us shinigami have no concept of the devil. The be-all-end-all jury when you die happens to be us -- the shinigami. And from what you guys are telling us…”

“This spirit isn’t a shinigami,” Tessai concludes. “So it’s highly unlikely that your brother was offering up his own soul in exchange for yours.” 

They all settle into a heavy silence, each wondering what to do with this information. Thunder rumbles loudly outside, and Urahara perks up like it’s time to get moving. 

“I’d hate to burst your bubble, Orihime, and I’m definitely not what you humans call a neuropsychologist,” Urahara says carefully. “But sometimes, dreams are just dreams. Concoctions that your brain makes up while it’s idle.” He looks up from under the shade of his hat. “Everyone dreams, be it a human or a soul, so it wouldn’t be such a surprise if your brain was trying to connect the dots of very random images and occurrences and weaving them into a story. We’re all guilty of it.” 

Orihime pouts, averting her eyes to look at her tea instead.

“That’s not to say we don’t believe you,” Yoruichi excuses kindly, rolling her eyes at Urahara. “All we’re saying is that we don’t have a lot of information to make solid conclusions. We don’t want to send you kiddos on a wild goose chase without actually knowing whether the wild goose is a threat in the first place.”

“Sometimes geese are just geese.” Urahara says pleasantly. 

“What he means is that spirits are often of their own mind,” Tessai expands. “There’s no such thing as good or bad spirits, just spirits with their own objectives and desires. A “bad” spirit, or what we call a Hollow, is just a hungry spirit with greed, anger or jealousy. Similarly, until we know the desires of this spirit, we can’t really take any actions. _If_ we must take them, that is.”

“Got it,” Uryuu pipes up, before Orihime and Chad have a chance to speak. He gives them a look that says _‘I have a plan’_ and as disappointed as Orihime is, she has faith in Uryuu’s Plans, so she sinks back into her seat. “We understand. Thank you for your time, Mr. Urahara, Tessai. Yoruichi.”

“And thanks for the tea.” Chad tacks on, raising his cup. 

They all get to their feet, scrambling towards the main lawn. The storm is still going steady, but the meeting room is only for official purposes, so everyone crowds out. Orihime and Yoruichi walk side-by-side behind everyone else, their shadows casting a long darkness behind them.

“How is Ichigo, by the way?” Yoruichi asks. “Is he coping well with the whole powers thing?”

Orihime looks up, trying to decide. Yes and no, she thinks. “He’s taking it better than we expected,” she manages, shooting Yoruichi a small smile. “I’m sure he misses Rukia a lot, but he seems mainly glad not to be at Soul Society’s beck and call anymore.” 

“Hah!” Yoruichi grins. “Of course he is.”

Orihime bites her lip now, wondering if she should ask the other question. She regards Yoruichi. “Do you think he’ll get his powers back?”

The other woman makes a grim face, settling her hands on her hips. “I don’t know, kiddo. To speak in Urahara terms, Ichigo is pretty much an outlier when it comes to everything we’ve seen and studied. Is it possible that he might pull some insane secret power out of his soul and come back kicking?” She shrugs. “Sure. But it’s also possible that he might never see a single ghost or spiritual entity for the rest of his life.” 

She sees the small look on Orihime’s face and laughs shortly, throwing an arm around Orihime’s shoulders. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing, you know. You’re all still young. You’ve got bright futures ahead of you. This life takes a lot.” She shakes her head. “Heck, we’ve been singing this tune for hundreds of years now and we’re _still_ getting used to it.”

“I know,” Orihime says quietly. “But if you hear from Rukia at all, would you please let us know? It would make us happy.” It would make _him_ happy, too, she thinks, though he’d never admit it. While Orihime knows she can technically score a ticket and visit Rukia in Soul Society any time, it feels like a bit of an affront to Ichigo. They knew each other before her, it doesn’t seem fair for her to do that to him. Not so soon after, anyway. Maybe sometime later, when things settle. If they settle. 

“Sure,” Yoruichi says easily. “Don’t worry about this girl from your dreams, either. Urahara and I will keep a lookout, ask around, you know the drill.” 

She doesn’t, but she bows gratefully. “Thank you.” 

“Thanks for coming to us with it. Also, if you have any questions about your powers, why don’t you ask Hachi about it? I heard his were similar to yours.”

Orihime raises her eyebrows in confusion. “I thought the Visoreds went back to Soul Society.”

“Not all of them,” Yoruichi winked. “Pay them a visit sometime. In the meanwhile, tell Ichigo I said hi.” 

“Oooh yes, please do,” Urahara singsongs, looking over his shoulder. “And do let him know he’s entitled to a 10% discount on all store items for the next century! Very sweet deal, in my humble shopkeeping opinion.” 

Uryuu and Chad snort, sharing an amused look with Orihime. They can only imagine Ichigo’s outrage at being offered something like that, so they laugh inwardly, into the sleeves of their hoodies. 

“Stay out of the rain, kiddos!” Yoruichi calls out, as they embark towards the gate. “We’ll be in touch!”

“Bye!” Orihime, Uryuu and Chad call out in unison. 

Once they’re out of earshot, Uryuu immediately turns on his heel and faces Orihime and Chad. “Well, as expected, they just adultsplained everything to us.” His glasses start dotting with tiny raindrops that he doesn’t bother to brush off. 

“They also offered to help,” Chad points out. “I don’t think they were lying about that.”

“No,” Orihime agrees. “They might not have said much, but they’ve helped us before, so I’m willing to bet they’ll keep an eye out for us. _Especially_ since they kind of owe Ichigo.” 

The air is heavy with a post-rain stupor. It’s cold and warm at the same time and Uryuu has a lot running on his mind. “Orihime,” he says. “If you’re willing, I think you should talk to your Shun Shun Rikka more.” He runs a hand through his hair, looking out into the far distance. “You said they felt a stir when you had the dream last time, right?”

She nods. 

“Then they might be sensing something we aren’t,” Uryuu concludes. “Wouldn’t hurt to convene with them and see what they think.”

“That’s a good idea,” Orihime says agreeably. 

“Until then, we should all keep an eye out, in case we see the spirit again,” Chad suggests. “Ishida, you have any work cut out for me?”

Uryuu raises his eyebrows. Though Ichigo’s never officially been their leader, they all do have a tendency to look to him and his half-assed plans. While Orihime and Chad are very smart and independent in their own ways, it might not hurt to assume leadership for a while and see where things go. Assigning work is probably something he should get used to, if he wants to make Student President anyway. 

“I was thinking of looking into the local lore actually,” Uryuu explains finally. “I’m in agreement with Mr. Urahara and the others on the fact that we don’t actually know what this spirit wants, if it wants something at all. Perhaps legends and folklore should give us some insight into what this thing is.” 

“I’ll go to the library whenever I’m free then.” Chad decides. “Book club gives me a lot of freedom to do research on whatever I want.”

“Call me when you go,” Uryuu says, with a nod. “I’ll come with.”

Orihime looks back and forth between this little investigative team they’ve built and she smiles. “Thank you guys for taking me seriously and helping me out. I really appreciate it.” 

“We’re friends.” Chad says, like that’s all the reason he’d ever need and Uryuu agrees.

“Besides, for all we know, this thing could be a threat to the entire town. We’d be stupid not to be more vigilant about it.”

They part ways near the park, each of them heading towards their own homes. Uryuu wonders if he’ll ever get used to this -- investigating something rather than rushing into it headfirst, swords and arrows slinging. There’s definitely a Kurosaki-sized hole in the group, but it’s also kind of fun to go on a little adventure that actually feels like just that.

He just hopes that’s all it’ll be and not some interdimensional war. Uryuu doesn’t know if he has enough caffeine in his system to go through something like _that_ again.

_______ 

That night, Orihime dreams again.

It’s the same dream as that night, except this time she has an acute awareness of every detail around her. She wants to remember everything, so she focuses more on her surroundings, rather than the visceral experience of being carried by Sora again.

Firstly, she realizes _he_ isn’t bleeding. She is. Blood dampens her entire abdomen, soaking through the olive green blanket Sora’s covered her in. The blanket is her baby blanket -- one of the few things Sora said he managed to salvage from their belongings back home. Their old home, not the one they have in Karakura. The one she’s currently living in.

Speaking of which, they’re in Karakura, but they’re also not. She’s seen these fisheries and warehouses scattered along the river, on the way _out_ of Karakura -- whenever she took the bus to her aunt’s town. They’re all industrial and most of them are abandoned. Due to the speed at which Sora’s running, and the blurry nature of the text itself, she can’t really read the signs but she registers other details -- colors, inroads, building shapes. 

The road curves into the woods, a thick and choppy area of dark green. The wind howls, and Sora pants. In the actual memory, she thinks she’s crying, but in the dream she’s quiet. Her stubby hands are gathered around Sora’s collar, bleeding onto his jacket. He’s crying too, but he stubbornly wipes them off.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he cooes. “We’re almost there.” 

Orihime blinks away the hot tears starting to form. It’s been long, so long since he’s called her that. Since he’s called her at all…

She shakes her head and focuses on the trees and the houses. They’re coming up on the warehouse now, so she decides to pay extreme attention to everything. There’s a dock light on the pier, shining a pale white. To the right is the warehouse, and the girl. The spirit. Whatever.

Upon closer observation, Orihime notices that the girl doesn’t really have skin. It’s more of an airy, translucent sheet. Her mouth is puckered and magenta, and she’s a few feet shorter than Sora. She’s not human, not a ghost either -- there’s no chain of fate on her chest -- but she hovers two feet above the ground. 

“Please!” Sora begs. “Please you have to help her.” 

Her vision begins to go lopsided as Sora shifts her to his hip. Fog starts to rise. 

The girl doesn’t sneer, doesn’t smirk. Her smile is...sympathetic? Sad? The fog becomes increasingly rapid, so Orihime closes her eyes, trying to focus on the kind of magic she’s feeling instead. It’s ancient, she thinks, running along her spine like wispy smoke. It smells like burned wood, absolutely charged with an undercurrent of...incense? Lemon?

_“I know you have it! She needs it! She’s all I have, please, I’m begging you.”_

Sora. Orihime keeps her eyes jammed shut, even though she wants to run to Sora and hold him again. This is probably the part where the girl opens her mouth to reply. Orihime expects white noise to fill her ears again, but this time, she actually hears the girl. Her voice is soft and raspy -- old with disuse -- but Orihime can’t make out the words. It all gets fuddled and mixed in her brain.

The sound travels all the way to the pressure point at the top of her skull.

Orihime jerks awake, a sudden pain ringing in her head. She quickly turns the bed light on and gropes around for a notebook. She finds one, her menstrual diary, but she yanks the elastic open anyway. She flips to a random page and immediately begins scrawling all the details she observed this time. Every single one of them until her brain starts to feel like a dried-out tap. 

“You stayed too long this time.” 

Orihime gasps, turning to the foot of her bed. Hinagiku is sitting there, except he’s...tall. Normal-sized. His eyepatch gleams a light purple in the slanting light of her bedlight. His chin rests on both his fists, watching her. 

“Hinagiku,” she says weakly, gripping her sheets. “What...why…”

“We decided last time that too many of us coming together would overwhelm you, so we’re taking turns,” Hinagiku explains. “I’m this size because you’re not currently splitting your energy between me and the others.”

“We can _do_ that?” Orihime wonders.

“We can,” Hinagiku says simply. He scratches at his bald head. She wonders if he’ll let her knit him a hat. “Anyway, you stayed in the dream too long. Things are absolutely whack in your inner world.”

“Sorry,” she says. “I wanted answers.” 

“We don’t have them,” Hinagiku replies flatly. “Unlike the zanpakuto spirits, we don’t have any hidden knowledge or abilities. We know what you know. We see what you see. Well all of us except Baigon, anyway, and he can’t talk because of the..you know. His mouth.” Orihime recalls his mask-clad mouth. 

“Baigon?” repeats Orihime. “Why Baigon?”

“He was your brother’s.” Hinagiku says, gently. 

Orihime feels her jaw drop wide open. Quite literally. “Sora’s not...Sora didn’t. _Huh_?” she asks intelligently.

“Baigon is the oldest among all us Shun Shun Rikka,” Hinagiku says, like he’s expecting her outrage. “He’s yours, in theory, but he wasn’t born because of the Kurosaki boy like the rest of us were. He was already there. Sora passed him down to you, but that’s all we know because Baigon doesn’t speak.”

Orihime brings her knees up to her chest. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Hinagiku shrugs. “We didn’t think it was relevant,” Seeing her reaction, he amends it. “When we first met you, we thought the ideal information to give you was what we could do _for_ you. Not our own personal histories, though that was probably an oversight on our part.” He glances at her, the bead on his eyepatch glowing a ruby red in the light. “Not that the rest of us have much of a history, anyway. We were born only a few years ago, but when we appeared Baigon was already there. We assumed he was the initial householder of your pins.” 

“Right. Householder?”

“The six blades of your pins each represent a ‘house,” Hingaiku says, and Orihime notes how much he sounds like a Pokedex. “That’s kind of our inner world. I’m guessing the other houses were empty when it was just him in there but now each of us take up a different blade. It looks like a post-dystopian cyberpunk world in mine, except for the, you know, authoritative oppression n’ all that.” 

“Cool,” Orihime notes. She wouldn’t have expected anything different. “How do I talk to Baigon?”

“You can talk.” Hinagiku says dryly, like she’s dumb. 

“I meant how can I get _him_ to talk to _me_?” Orihime asks patiently. 

Technically, she remembers how Sora would try to teach her sign language during meal times when she was little. He’d tried to operant-condition her into learning a new word, rewarding her with a bite of food every time she mimicked him. She probably has him to blame for how Present Orihime uses food as a reward system but the memory has much larger context, now that she thinks about it. Back then she thought it was one of those baseless and longsuffering habits that Sora tried to inculcate in her for no reason other than to Tick Her Off. But if he thought she’d have to communicate with Baigon one day…

“Would sign language work?” she asks Hinagiku, who was staring at her mental gymnastics with amusement. 

He shrugs. “You’d have to try it. Most of us just leave Baigon alone.”

“That’s kind of mean. What if he’s lonely?”

Hinagiku rolls his eyes. “Good thing he has you, then.” He disappears with a tiny _‘pop’_ clearly done with her.

She chews on her bottom lip thoughtfully. That’s a lot of information for her to take in, but she figures she can do something with it. It feels concrete, like she has a goal. She reaches out for her phone and opens a text thread with Tatsuki. 

_have something I wanna do_

She tacks on a ‘muscle arm’ emoji before finishing the rest of her message:

_are you free tomorrow?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading! I'm kazeshini-s on Tumblr!


	4. chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo and Orihime get up to awkward teenage shenanigans in the library. Keigo and Mizuro make a cameo, because this is Bleach after all, but they're not as insufferable.

In class, they’re learning about dynasties. 

It’s all stuff Ichigo’s watched before in documentaries and period films, so he whiles away his time playing tic-tac-toe with Chad. They sit at the back, where their teacher can’t be less bothered to watch them, the tip of their pencils skirting over a crumpled old chemistry test. 

“Have I ever told you how much I hate chemistry?” he asks Chad darkly. “I frickin’ hate chemistry.”

“I figured.” Chad replies, pointing at the paper. Ichigo stabs a hole in it for good measure.

“Chemistry,” he says, glancing over at the few desks in front of him. “Is for people with brains functioning at full capacity. Like Ishida.”

“He’s not that good at chemistry,” Chad supplies. “More of a physics guy.”

“Oh, is there a subject I loathe more than _physics_!” 

“Chemistry.” Chad reminds him. 

Beside them, Tatsuki snorts. She’s not really paying attention either, passing messages back and forth with Orihime. Though, Orihime seems to have stopped replying minutes ago. She’s hunched over in furious and intense conversation with Ishida, so Tatsuki bothers them instead.

“Wonder what Ishida and Inoue are talking about?” Mizuro asks casually, from in front of Ichigo. 

“How much they love this subject probably,” Keigo remarks beside him. “Nerds.”

Tatsuki whacks the back of Keigo’s head. “She hates history,” she says, as the number one authority on All Things Orihime. “They’re probably planning those dumb mittens she’s sewing for her gloriously pregnant neighbor.”

It becomes a game after that, each person guessing more ridiculous things than the other. It’s a testament to how bored they are, Ichigo thinks, but also to how Orihime and Ishida haven’t _stopped talking_ since the beginning of the class. What were they talking about? Why in the world haven’t they been caught?

“You know if it was me and you we’d have scored cleaning duty,” Ichigo nods at Chad. “Ishida isn’t even student president yet and he’s already above the law, the bastard.”

Tatsuki chuckles. “They don’t get into trouble because _sensei loves_ them,” she says. “Chad doesn’t get into trouble because Chad’s a quiet angel. You, Keigo and Mizuro are the only delinquents in here.”

Well, at least Tatsuki’s normal with him again. “I hate that word.” Moreso, he hates being thrown in with Keigo, but that goes without saying.

There’s a distant growl and Ichigo thinks his stomach’s already rumbling for lunch, but Chad, Orihime and Ishida all perk up. The other two glance back at Chad and he gets up wordlessly, pushing his chair back into place. Orihime catches Ichigo’s eyes and smiles nervously. He feels himself smiling back, but also distracted by Chad standing up. 

“I’ll be back.” he claps Ichigo’s shoulder, and then he’s gone, citing “stomach ache” as a reason to their teacher. Oh. _Oh_. 

Ichigo kind of misses it, he thinks. It feels weird being the one who gets left behind, but when he thinks about roaring, ugly Hollows with disgusting shit coming out of their mouths, he kinda doesn’t miss it anymore. Maybe if Hollows were as harmless as Rukia’s drawings made them out to be, more people would be shinigami. 

Tatsuki watches him, with a raised eyebrow. She’s heard it too, but she leans back casually in her chair. “Retirement working out for you, then?” she says.

He grins and it feels vague and forced and _complicated_ on his mouth. “You bet.”

They go back to playing tic-tac-toe, Tatsuki taking over for Chad. “Orihime said you two are paired up for the biology presentation.” she says conversationally. 

He quirks his eyebrow. “Yeah, I think we were supposed to meet sometime this week to plan that.” Orihime had offered to do it all by herself, but he wasn’t having any of it. He’s back now, damn it. There’s no reason he shouldn’t be doing Dumb Student Things with his Dumb Student Friends. Not that Orihime’s dumb; it’s just that he wants to do dumb things with her instead of worrying about interdimensional wars and career criminals with God complexes. 

“Do you think you could switch with me?” Tatsuki asks, and initially Ichigo thinks she’s asking to switch partners -- which he kind of doesn’t want to -- but she’s pulling out her phone from her bag. “I kinda promised her I’d go to the library with her today for something but I forgot I’m supposed to cover for one of the other instructors at the dojo.” She eyes him. “You think you can go today and I can take your spot for later this week? Could always ask Chad, too, but --”

“I’ll do it,” he agrees. 

“Great.” she flashes him a grin. “I bet that should make her day.”

Ichigo raises his eyebrows. “How come?”

Tatsuki shakes her head, like she suddenly remembers who she’s talking to. “Nevermind.” She ducks her head and starts typing out a series of messages. Seconds later, Orihime turns over her shoulder and scowls at Tatsuki -- though calling it a scowl is generous because she just looks like a puppy trying to get mad.

Ishida glances back at Ichigo and then whispers something in Orihime’s ear. She nods, and then they finally _stop talking_. 

He doesn’t really have time to ponder what that was about because Chad comes back and it’s lunchtime and his stomach starts to let out an actual, non-Hollow growl. 

.

When he gets to the library later that evening, it’s kind of empty. A couple of students are scattered around, and no one but the librarian gives him a second glance. Ichigo remembers how he initially used to hate this place because all the kids would stare at him when he entered the room but he’s an upperclassman now -- not to mention, he’s _Kurosaki Ichigo_ , which means something in this school apparently. 

At one of the shared tables, he sees Orihime already sitting. She’s hunched over some books, scribbling down notes and flipping pages. The sight is so familiar, but at an unfamiliar place. They’ve never come down here together to study before, so the mix of the old and new sends him reeling slightly. He’s not late, is he? A single glance at his watch tells him _she’s_ early, even though their agreed meeting time isn’t even for another twenty minutes. So much for finding a corner away from curious eyes, he guesses, but he strides forward anyway.

She doesn’t notice him. Her hair is in a low, loose bun and she’s chewing on the tip of her pencil. Her usual hair clips aren’t there -- he’s noticed how she pins it to her uniform collar these days -- and her light school sweater makes her hair look a lot darker, a study in colors. She’s at a shared table, so he can’t really greet her the way he normally would. He slides in beside her, as slowly as he can, and whispers, “Yo.”

She looks up, her dark eyes dazed, and then registers his presence. “Oh, hey,” she says, setting her books aside, careful not to press into Michiru and her partner-- Ichigo doesn’t remember his name--’s work. They nod at Ichigo and he tries not to notice the way Michiru shifts a little away from Orihime. “Hope this is alright?”

It’s not. He’d prefer if they were at the back corner instead, where the other kids usually don’t sit, but he waves his hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Did you get started already?” He eyes the table. There’s a few books related to their topic -- _DNA Patterns in Twins_ \-- but there are also books about...sign language?

He’s about to ask her, but she pulls out a big sheet of paper. “I made a twelve-step plan for how we might go about this, annotated with roles that are both catered to our strengths and weaknesses. I thought I’d wait for you, but then I realized you’d probably prefer more active responsibilities than ones involving organization.” She stops, realizing she’s rambling, and composes herself. “Is that okay?”

“Y-yeah.” Ichigo glances at the sheet. It’s in her neat handwriting, a single table divided into two columns, delegating tasks for each of them. He notices how hers are all more theory-centric while his are more practical stuff that requires more physical work than reading. He remembers telling her in homeroom once that he has a hard time reading long sequences of text if they’re not fiction or some kind of story and he’s surprised she remembers. 

"God you're such a Virgo sun, Orihime." Michiru remarks, rolling her eyes at Orihime’s perfect charts. 

Well, she is, but Ichigo doesn't really know what that _means_. His eyebrow twitches. 

"Why is Michiru here? I thought she hated me." he whispers into Orihime’s hair, since he’s a few inches shorter than him. 

"She doesn't hate you, she's afraid of you," Orihime whispers back, into his neck, because-- well, he’s taller than her. "Also I don't know." 

"Should we find somewhere else to sit?" He’s itching to tell her about this _wicked_ place right behind the footstools of the restricted section where no one really goes other than people who really like to read and _really_ don’t like other people. 

"Wouldn't that be rude?" Orihime considers Michiru and her partner. Was his name Yukio? Yuri?

"I could always scowl at her, since she finds me so scary." he suggests, only half-joking. 

"Oh, _please_ don't. I'll tell her we're going to go find books." She does, and they leave after that, with Ichigo carrying her books and Orihime carrying her Twelve Step Plan and her fruit-themed stationery. 

Ichigo's pretty sure Michiru and her companion think Find Books is a euphemism for something but he doesn't mind. If there's one thing he and Ishida agree on, it's that there's always, always time to run away from Michiru. 

They get to the nice and warm secluded corner in the library, arraigned with armchairs and a little coffee table. 

“Oh it’s quiet here,” she marvels, setting her stuff down. “Do you come here often?”

Ichigo rubs his neck awkwardly. “Well, they’ve got Shakespeare two rows over.” he offers as a half-assed explanation, to which she nods with a soft smile. He avoids her eyes and starts mimicking her to set the books down.

He waits for Orihime to pick her chair before settling opposite her. His legs are long, so they bump into hers under the table. 

"Oh, sorry," she mumbles, even though he's the one that bumped into her. She lifts her legs up and sits criss cross applesauce on the chair. They arrange all their books in a neat little pile, clearing the centre space for their Plan. To no one's surprise, Orihime's plan is pretty good and Ichigo thinks he agrees with most of it. They decide who wants to go over what topic again and then settle into their seats to find information for said topic. 

"Hey," he says, a few minutes later. His fingers are all inky, so he decides that’s a good indicator for hard work deserving of a break. "Why were you learning JSL, anyway?" 

Orihime looks up from the book she's reading in surprise. Her face goes through multiple emotions per second, none of them long enough for him to grasp what she's feeling, before she settles on a small smile. "Well, you know Baigon? One of my Shun Shun Rikka with the big body and the mask?" 

Ichigo nods. The only one he's properly acquainted with is the hot-blooded, tiny asshole but he's not gonna say that out loud because Orihime loves him despite his very glaring flaws and Ichigo really respects her bravery for it. 

"He doesn't speak, so I thought we could communicate with signs." Orihime explains, biting her lip. "I've been exposed to it a little bit before, so I thought it's something I should pick up again." 

"Oh. That's thoughtful of you," he says and she flushes, staring back at her book very fixedly. "Aren't you s'posed to practice with someone, though?"

"Well there's apps for it but it definitely does make it easier if you practice with someone," Orihime says. "That's why I asked Tatsuki to come with me."

The librarian comes by, darting suspicious gazes between Ichigo and Orihime, but her expression relaxes when she sees Ichigo. She likes him, he thinks, because she doesn’t really say anything other than ask Orihime to put her feet back down on the ground, before stalking back to her office. 

“You could always put them on mine,” Ichigo offers and she widens her eyes like he’s just asked her to marry him or something. “S’no big deal, my shoes are old.”

She hesitates and then gingerly brings her feet back down, landing right on top of his, so delicately he can barely feel them. He glances under the table to make sure they’re actually there and wow...her feet are _small_. They look tiny in their brown flats, right on top of his worn-out black chucks.

“Hope this is okay,” she whispers shyly and Ichigo feels strangely out of breath for some reason, like they’re doing something they shouldn’t be. Like he’s violated some code in the Invisibly Handy Guide on How to _Act_ Around People. 

“Uh, yeah.” Ichigo says, rubbing his eye. “Anyway, what were we talking about?”

“I don’t remember,” she admits, biting the tip of her pencil again. “But. I was thinking we should show pictures of your sisters for the fraternal twins part, since they want us to apply the project to our lives in some way.” Then, her eyes dawn in horror. “Unless you don’t want to! That was kind of invasive on my part, sorry! We could always put in stock pictures, that’s fine by me.” It’s not, she _hates_ stock pictures with a passion, but he doesn’t have to know that. 

“I think it’s pretty genius actually,” Ichigo cuts her off. It _is_ a good idea; he doesn’t know why he didn’t think of it himself, at the very mention of twins. “We should have some cool pictures in the back drawer somewhere. You could come over and help me pick, my dad would be more than happy to pull them out and cry about how old he’s getting.” 

“Oh - I...Are you sure?” she asks, picking at the frays of her sweater. “I know you’re still making up for a lot of your schoolwork, so I really shouldn’t be taking up your time.”

“You kidding? You came up with the idea, you should have a say in what pictures go in there,” Ichigo excuses. “My choices are shit, I’d probably pick an embarrassing one rather than one that actually goes with our theme.” She still isn’t looking at him, so he adds, “Unless you’re not comfortable.” 

“Oh, I’d _love_ to!” she squeals, then looks around guiltily for the librarian. “I love baby pictures and I love babies and I’m sure your sisters were _so_ cute, so yeah!” She cups her cheeks, like she’s imagining it and her radical optimism doesn’t make this idea seem half bad at all. 

They settle into an amicable silence again and Ichigo lets his mind drift off as he copies down chunks of information onto his paper. Orihime’s bangs often fall in front of her face, but she sweeps them behind her ear instead of pinning on her hair clips. He wonders why. 

Thing is, he really respects Orihime. He’s always respected her before, but there’s something profound that he feels in regards to just how incredibly _nice_ she is. Not nice in the way that she’ll lend you an eraser even though she’s low on supplies, or the way she lets you keep a manga for months together without asking back for it once -- she’s done those, too, but -- nice in the way that she lets people be really whoever they want to be around her without judgement. One thing he was afraid of was that the whole incident on Las Noches’ rooftop would hang over them like a dark cloud once they returned to school but she’s been perfectly _nice_ to him, just like she was before, if not a little guilty. 

Guilty. Why was she guilty? Was it because he saved her? They’d have to talk about that sometime, maybe when he walks her to work tonight. Does she know that literally anyone at any point in time would be willing to die for her with zero regrets? That’s probably _why_ she was guilty in the first place. Ichigo remembers reading a book from Helen of Troy’s perspective that had some pretty heavy themes of survivor’s guilt in there. He clenches his fist. 

“Hey, Orihime?” he says. She looks up at him curiously. 

What was he even going to say? That she shouldn’t feel guilty because there’s not a single thing he’d change about Hueco Mundo, even if he had to become a literal monster to save her? That was awfully entitled and even a little patronizing. Then again, she should _know_. 

“I like your sticker,” he recovers instead, pointing at the little Skull Man sticker on her pouch. He’s not a fan of Skull Man in the least, but he respects the concept. 

She smiles. “It was a limited edition.” 

See? Nice. Whether you were Kurosaki Ichigo being an idiot library nerd in Karakura High or those two sadistic Arrancar back at Las Noches, Orihime would treat you with the dignity and respect you deserve (or don’t). He tries to be more like that -- his mom was like that, too -- but he thinks Orihime takes the crown over him any day. 

“Oh hey,” he says, suddenly. “I remember what we were talking about that time.” 

She raises her head again, quirking her nose in confusion. How did she do that?

Ichigo knocks her _Japanese Sign Language: Basics_ with his knuckle. “Wanna practice with me?”

Orihime and Ichigo walk to her job once they wrap up at the library. She would have nearly missed her shift, if not for her chirpy alarm. Past her seemed to know just exactly how distracted she could get, especially if she was around a very dorky Kurosaki Ichigo learning sign language with her for no other reason, other than to keep her company.

And Ishida said he _wasn’t_ a sweetheart. 

Ichigo’s quiet now, but not in the quiet he usually is where his eyebrows do that Thing -- dropped in relaxation, just an inch over his forehead as opposed to how they were hunched around the space between his eyebrows when he was thinking. Orihime will _never_ admit this to Tatsuki but she thinks his most winning features are those expressive eyebrows. 

“Are you okay?” she asks, at the same time he says,

“We should talk about it.” 

They both hang back now, unsure of which one of them won the right to go first. Orihime waves her hand, like she wants him to talk, even though those five words send her stomach lurching with the afternoon lunch. ‘It’ could be anything from the time she doused his muffin in nutmeg without his knowledge to prove a point that he’d actually like it if he tried it -- he did, ha! -- to the time she thought she was going to see him for the last time and nearly kissed him. Nearly. Her face still flares at the thought of that one.

He clears his throat, so she innocently refocuses her attention like she isn’t thinking about the Almost Kiss. “About what?”

He tugs the collar of his jacket uncomfortably. “Las Noches. Um, you know.” 

She knows. She swallows nervously, but the tight block around her throat doesn’t go down. “We don’t have to.” 

“I’d like to,” he says, looking down at his shoes, at the lamp post, anywhere but her. “I know you’re guilty and I don’t mean to tell you how to feel about things but since _this_ thing involves me I figure I should have at least some say in it, right?” He shuffles his hand through his hair. “I don’t want you to. Feel guilty, I mean.”

Those are a lot of words, Orihime thinks, and the syntax of them isn’t exactly very comprehensible, but she gets the gist. “Oh.” 

“It’s not your fault,” Ichigo continues. “If anything, you, Ishida and I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t called out to me.” He sighs. “But. I owe you an apology.” 

No! Orihime gasps. Too far. “What for?” she asks meekly. She doesn’t want to know. Doesn’t want to hear the words from the guy who did way more for her than she could ever pay back. 

“I know it scared you,” Ichigo says. “You probably remembered your brother, too. If I could take anything back from Hueco Mundo, it would be how scared you were, but to be fair, I was scared too.” 

He admits this with such integrity, such honesty, and Orihime thinks he’s never been anything else but. Even when the truth was difficult to hear, you could expect it from Ichigo. 

“Anyway,” he clears his throat again. “For what it’s worth, I’m hoping that shit never happens again. I mean it probably won’t, with my powers being gone and all but --”

Orihime’s body moves without her approval, like that one time she tried to ride Sora’s bike without the safety stand off. She tackles Ichigo’s middle in a very loose hug -- he’s uncomfortable with close physical contact -- her hands barely touching his back. He’s warm, oh _so warm_ , and she’s so grateful he exists and he’s alive. “Thank you,” she mutters, feeling his hands ghost over her shoulders seconds later. She can’t feel his reiatsu anymore, so she settles for the old-fashioned thing -- his heartbeat. “You don’t owe me anything, but I appreciate your apology.” For one horrifying moment, she feels tears coming on, but she shoves them back aggressively. 

He coughs and pats her head. “Yeah.” 

She lets go of him now, leaping three feet away from his side just to be safe. She can see the lights from her bakery glowing in the distance, so now would be a good time to say goodbye and pummel her fingers roughly through dough for the next two hours as she overthinks this conversation. 

“I’m gonna go,” she decides, tugging her apron free from her bag. “I’ll see you Friday? For the picture thing?”

“What? Oh. Yeah.” He raises his hand in a tiny wave. “Have a nice shift at work.”

“You too!” she bites back automatically and then realizes. “Oh, I mean --”

“I know what you meant.” He grins. “See ya Friday.” 

With that he’s off, his silhouette standing tall as he walks past the familiar roads of their town back to his home. 

His home that she’s going to on Friday. _Friday_. She needs to have a long intervention call with Tatsuki tonight or she _will_ die between now and then. 

Not a bad way to go, she thinks happily, skipping to go pummel some dough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as much as I wanted this work to focus more on the other characters, it turns out Bleach's protagonist is actually my favorite and I can't go too long without slotting him in. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	5. chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls do some sleuthing around while Uryuu, Chad and Ichigo hit the arcade. Chaos ensues.

“I will be completely honest with you,” Tatsuki starts, as they enter the empty dojo. 

“Please do.” Orihime indulges her.

“I have no idea what we’re doing,” Tatsuki admits with a sigh. “I mean, I think I understand the part about your dream and your brother and why you, Chad and Ishida are so concerned about this ghost --”

“ -- spirit,” Orihime interrupts her politely, as they toss their school bags on the floor. “Ghosts have a chain of fate. This one didn’t.” 

“Right.” Tatsuki blinks. “It is also my understanding that while Ishida and Chad research what this thing could be, you’re talking to your powers…to do what exactly?”

“My powers see exactly what I see,” Orihime explains. “So they know only what I know. Now this dream of mine feels more like a memory -- except I was too young to remember it -- and I thought among the only two witnesses to what happened that night, one is dead and the other is a stray spirit that tries to run whenever we chase it.”

“Whenever?” Tatsuki repeats. “This has happened multiple times?”

“A few nights ago, when, um, Ichigo and I were at the library,” Orihime says, blushing at the name before carrying forth hurriedly. Tatsuki snorts. “Uryuu said he saw her again, lurking near the window where we were sitting. I must have been pretty engrossed in my conversation with Ichigo because I didn’t notice her at all until Uryu texted me later that night saying he saw her.” She frowns, her hands on her chin. “He said he didn’t come get me then because Ichigo was there -- and well, Ichigo doesn’t know about this at all because we decided not to tell him since --”

Tatsuki waves her hand impatiently, telling her to go on. She knows the story, her git of a best friend lost his stupid powers because he was trying to be a hero and save her and her other git friends. More or less. 

“Yeah, so Uryuu said he chased after her for at least an hour,” Orihime continues. “But she eventually disappeared near the bridge.”

“Like, evaporated?” 

“Like, evaporated,” Orihime nods, expanding and closing her fists. “Boom. No sign of her since then.” 

“And the first time you saw her was the game?”

“The first time I saw her was in my dream,” Orihime clarifies. “ _Uryuu and Chad_ first saw her at the game.” She sits down opposite Tatsuki. “So now what I want to do is talk to Baigon.” 

“Right,” Tatsuki says slowly. “Because Baigon was your brother’s, and since your powers could see what you see --”

“Baigon could probably see what Sora saw,” Orihime finishes. “Thus giving me an account of what they were doing at the docks that night.”

The dojo is the best place to do this, because it’s empty and because it’s a lot bigger than Orihime’s apartment. This is important because Orihime isn’t sure if she’s going to Baigon’s house or if Baigon’s house is coming to her. This is the part that Tatsuki still doesn’t understand but she sweeps it away.

“‘Hime, while I certainly do appreciate the whole Scooby-doo-ness of it all, I have several questions,” Tatsuki says, pulling her knees up to her chest.  
“First of all, how do we know if Baigon’s gonna give you this information?”

Orihime looks at her innocently. “I will ask him nicely.” 

Tatsuki laughs abruptly. “Okay. I don’t doubt that.” She stares at her calloused palms, turning serious again. “I guess my second question is, how are we sure this is something you want to know?”

Orihime tilts her head, like she’s confused. 

“I know this feels very important, this whole ‘I’m learning things about my backstory that will later aid me in my journey as a young and spirited anime protagonist,’” Tatsuki reasons. “And it probably helps you feel closer to your brother as well, since this is a side of him you never knew, but how sure are you that you want this? Is this something you’re better off not knowing?”

When Orihime was a kid, she admitted she had all sorts of fantasies about their parents and why they were so absent in her and her brother’s lives -- ranging from ‘they’re astronauts on a long space mission’ to ‘they’re part of a super secret spy organization and they’re off saving the world somewhere.’ When Sora sat her down and told her they were neither, just abusive and alcoholic people who wanted to hurt her, she hadn’t spoken to him for three days.

Tatsuki knows this because Orihime has told her this, on one of her many ‘I Should Have Never Done That to Sora’ nights of tear-laden guilty crying. There’s enough trauma in this room and Tatsuki doesn’t know if she should let her best friend run headfirst into some more. 

“I feel like I should know.” she whispers. 

“And I get that, I do,” Tatsuki agrees reasonably. “But Orihime this is the guy you’ve idolised your entire life. He was your rock, your only standard in the world for how people should treat you. I don’t know,” she waves her hands frustratedly. “What if there’s something you see in there that you don’t like?”

What Orihime has already told her about this dream isn’t great. Blood, woods, pleading with shady-looking not-ghosts. Tatsuki grits her teeth, feeling anxious. 

“I’ve thought about that too,” Orihime says, squeezing Tatsuki’s hand. “I know adults aren’t very honest or perfect, especially when it comes to their kids, but I’ve made up my mind to forgive him if it’s s-something bad.”

At that, Tatsuki’s eyebrows fly to the roof. 

“Whatever he was doing in that dream, he was doing for me,” Orihime says solemnly. “That’s no different from how he was in life.” She clutches her skirt in fists. “I’m going into this because I owe it to him to know what kind of person he was, so that one day…” She trails off and closes her eyes, before opening them back up. Her eyes are shining with tears. “So that one day I can tell my kids exactly how their uncle was.” 

Tatsuki sucks in a breath. They’re young, way too young to be thinking about anything _near_ that sort of stuff, but Orihime has that look in her eyes. The one where she won’t listen to anyone else. Tatsuki wonders what Sora would have done in her place, and she hopes to God she’s doing right by him.

“I’ll be here,” Tatsuki promises. “And I swear I’ll do whatever I can to pull you out if things get bad.” 

“It’s fine, it’s just Baigon,” Orihime reassures, giving her a tiny kiss on the cheek. “When I come out, we can always go check out that new bowling arena that opened by Mashiba.” 

There's a beat of silence where they just look at each other. Tatsuki hates this. 

“I really wish Chad and Ishida were here,” she grumbles, curling her pinkie around Orihime’s. “Heck, Ichigo too. I’m sure even _he’d_ know what to do.”

“Hush, hush,” Orihime plucks off her hair clips, laying them down on the ground. “Here goes.” 

They stare. Orihime's on her elbows, peering at the clips with a concentrated look on her face. For a second, nothing happens. She licks her bottom lip. “I think I should call out to him.”

Tatsuki nods. “I think you should call out to him.”

Orihime breathes in deeply. “Baigon? I know we usually do this with you coming to me,” she calls. “But could I come to you instead this time? To your house?”

Silence. 

Tatsuki’s starting to think this isn’t a great idea. 

“I promise to wipe my feet off at the mat,” she jokes weakly, catching Tatsuki’s eyes with a helpless look. 

Tatsuki’s about to speak, when there’s a sudden _‘pop’_ in the air. Then, where Orihime used to be, there’s just nothing. 

“What the hell…” Tatsuki mutters, half horrified, half fascinated. She pokes at Orihime’s clips gingerly, with the edge of her nail. Was she really in there? How the hell was Tatsuki supposed to get her out, if things went wrong? Would Orihime even know how to come out? 

“What am I _doing_?” 

The pins just stare back, the silence very loud in the empty dojo. 

.

Chad watches Ichigo and Ishida going absolutely feral at the claw crane machine and he really wishes Orihime was here. The fight started over something absolutely stupid that he can’t be bothered to remember, but it ended with a resolution that one of them was going to walk away from this with a large stuffed owl for Chad. 

Chad’s never had guys fight over him before, but he assumes this is what it feels like to be literally any pretty person ever. He doesn’t mind, as long as he’s getting that owl. He raises his camera, making sure to take plenty of pictures for Orihime and later, maybe, _hopefully_ for Rukia. Abarai said something about spirit-phones getting configured for communication with the World of the Living, but that hasn't taken flight yet. 

“You have the worst possible aim in the history of worst aims,” Ishida remarks, sounding horrified. “How in the world did you get a single hit on Aizen, Kurosaki?”

“With my bad-boy charms,” Ichigo replies absently, hitting the lever desperately with his fist _after_ he presses the ‘release’ button. 

Well, they never said they loved him for his intellect. 

“Stop that or you’ll break the machine!” Ishida yells, tugging at Ichigo’s shirt. “Do you want to get off this dare on a technicality? Are you so low a coward?”

“Shut up, Ishida, I’m trying my damn best!”

“Well, your best is really bad!”

Chad really wishes Orihime and Rukia were here. This is way too good for him to enjoy alone, like it’s a fever dream no one will believe when he recounts the story. 

Suddenly, his phone buzzes. 

Arisawa Tatsuki:  
_she's gone. she's inside her pins and I have no idea what to do._

Chad waits, as he sees the three little dots bouncing as Tatsuki types again. 

_she's gone, Chad!!!!! what should I do??????_

Chad blinks.

_i dont know,_ he types back. 

Truth be told, they haven't made a lot of progress since Ishida encountered the spirit at the bridge. They've hit the books at the local library, they've even combed through Ishida's dad's private library but realistically speaking, they never had a lot of information to begin with. They've come up with all kinds of theories, from Orihime's brother having a doppelganger to virgin sacrifices made on a full moon night every 12 years but all of them sound improbable, like something out of a bad horror movie. 

_ask ishida then!!!!_ comes the next message. 

Chad glances up to see Ishida still waiting for his turn as Ichigo botches the claw for the fiftieth time. They're more than likely to go broke before he ever gets the owl, which is a shame because Chad really wanted that owl. 

He tugs at Ishida's collar. 

"Sado, what --!"

"She's doing it," Chad says quietly, keeping one eye on Ichigo. "Orihime." 

Ishida's eyes quickly light in understanding. They dart to Ichigo and then to Chad. "Any progress?" 

"No word yet," Chad says, shoving his phone at Ishida. "Except for Tatsuki being worried." 

"Oi! Ishida! Are you seeing this?!" Ichigo hollers, a lot louder than he should, than he has to. They really are going to get kicked out. 

Ishida groans and pats Chad's back. "Tell Arisawa to give it half an hour and if Orihime isn't back by then, we'll go there." 

Chad doesn't really know what they're going to do to help, but he supposes they're more or less going to go as moral support. He types whatever Ishida says verbatim anyway and goes back to watching Ichigo and Ishida fight. 

.

Baigon's world is _crazy_.

Ichigo once told her his inner world had no solid floor, just a vague space that he can stand on. This is kind of like that, except the floor is made of honeycomb-shaped mirrors, all towering up to a tall, crooked spire in the centre. They're walking towards that spire, Orihime and Baigon, as their reflections glide over the glass beneath them. Or at least that's what she assumes. When she first arrived, Baigon only motioned her to follow him, saying nothing else. 

The sky is a dusky red and gray, and there's actual warships cutting across, their engines roaring loudly overhead. The warships are familiar, like she's seen them somewhere before. Giant chains connect the spire to various dark, multicolored pillars stationed at every kilometre. They all follow the same, red-and-grey color scheme. There's tiny cyborgs driving across the land they're walking on, but they don't stop to say hi. The reflection of the warships overhead gleam on their coppery metal surfaces. 

She suspects the place is something born out of her imagination. That's why the warships look so familiar. She's been here before, but only in concept, in idea. This is the execution. 

They take a long, narrow elevator up the spire, the plate they're standing on held together by a mesh of chains and wires. Once the elevator stops, she notices they're in a workshop of sorts. All kinds of pipes and funnels lead in and out of haphazard spaces, emitting coloured smoke from within them. There's multiple desks with various nuts and bolts skewed across them. Overhead, some of the pipes clang and whistle with the stream of movement. The only de-cluttered space is a large black couch in the middle of the room. 

Baigon motions for her to sit on the couch, so she sits. He's got an enormous pair of work goggles strapped around his forehead and his torso is covered by a mason's vest. He pours out tea from an odd-looking kettle, which she drinks acceptingly. It tastes like what she always assumed petrol would taste like, all sour and metal-like, like a coin or a spoon. 

"This place," she observes, setting her cup down. "It's built from my imagination, isn't it?" It's exactly every childhood machinery fantasy she's had and subsequently forgotten. 

_Yes_ , he signs. His fingers are small, even though he's normal-sized now. 

"Was- was it different when you were with Sora?" she asks gently. Sitting across from her is probably someone who's been with Sora a considerate amount of time. She feels attached to her own Shun Shun Rikka, Baigon included, so she assumes the bond is similar. 

He nods, and though his mouth is obscured, his eyes look like they're smiling. He starts signing something, and she has to squint to see, but she hopes she isn't offending him by doing that. 

_Did you learn_.. the rest of it goes over her head, but she's assuming he's talking about sign language. 

"Yes," she says, and signs it too, even though he doesn't exactly have a hard time hearing. "I wanted to talk to you." 

_About your brother?_

She shrugs. "About everything," she says, settling into the couch. "You probably know what I've been dreaming about, but unlike the others, it's not just a dream to you, is it? It's a memory. You were there." 

Baigon just stands there, leaning against the counter, but she knows she's right. 

"I have some theories," Orihime says. "And I just want to know from you if I'm right. And if you have any information or stories about Sora, I'd be willing to listen to that, too." 

Baigon nods, motioning for her to go on. 

"So," she sighs. "In the dream, I'm four." 

Baigon shakes his head. _Three._

"So that's the year we left our parents house, right?" Orihime says.

_The night._

"Huh? Oh," Orihime intones. "It was the _night_ we left our parents house?" That sets a whole new light on this. Orihime leans forward in her chair. "I was bleeding, so I must have been hurt. Did - did my parents hurt me?" 

Baigon nods solemnly. _Brother watched...in tears. Decided to…_

To go? To leave, Orihime decides. She's not all too sure she's reading his fingers accurately, but he does it slow enough for her to try and connect it. 

"Sora decides to run away," Orihime says. "But I'm hurt. So he figures he should heal me. You don't heal though, you're the shield. Right?" 

Baigon nods. 

"So why not go to the hospital?" she asks. 

_Hurt too bad_ … he signs something else that Orihime doesn't catch. 

She looks at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" 

He patiently repeats it, but in different movements now, like he's trying easier words for her. 

_Protection...payment...death...future._

She scrambles it in her head.

_Future, payment, protection, death…_

_Death, future, protection, payment…_

"Insurance!" she screams, flailing her hands like she's a gameshow contestant. "The deal he struck with the girl was not to heal me for my injuries _that night_ , but to protect me in the future, like some kind of insurance."

Baigon nods, looking proud of her. 

"But what did he give her in return?" Orihime asks, though she feels like she knows. "His life? His soul?" She thinks back to his accident. Was that even possible? 

Baigon shakes his head, like she's getting it wrong. _Think again._

So Orihime thinks out loud. "He gave you to me, in the form of these pins," she backtracks. "I thought they were just a gift, but clearly he gave them to me to protect me. To shield me, which is what you do." Baigon asks her to build on it further. "He did that for me...as insurance. As a way to protect me, like he did with the 304s and the bank stuff and the guardianship with our least terrifying aunt." Orihime would have never survived a day if her brother hadn't been smart enough to make all those arrangements for her. 

_On the right track_ , Baigon signs. 

"So my powers were my insurance?" Orihime theorizes. "Something that kicked in after he died as a way to protect me in his place?" 

_Right! That's...that was.._

That was the deal, Orihime concludes. It wasn't an exchange, it was magical insurance. If Sora ever died, he wanted powers similar to Baigon to pass on to her. 

"Baigon, that makes no sense," she groans. "My powers were born when I tried to save Tatsuki from the Hollow at school." 

_We were there...born only after…_

"You were always there, just born after I actually got my spiritual powers," Orihime says. "Which came because of Ichigo. Okay." She was also never in high duress until then, which also makes a lot of sense. Her powers don't kick in unless she absolutely needs them, and she's only recently started calling them to just chat. 

She bites her lip. It's a lot to process and she feels like she's drowning, if she's honest. Baigon watches her in concern. 

"So…" she says, dragging it out. "What does that spirit want with me?" 

Baigon shrugs. _Don't know._

There has to be something in here that clicks. "How did Sora even _know_ her?" 

She can't imagine Sora, her Sora, clerk at the accounts office for a postal service, getting involved in anything spiritual of any kind. He was always _'feet on the ground, rational solutions to rational problems'_ kind of a guy. She can't picture him doing any of this, except for the part where he supposedly did it to protect her. That, she can believe. 

_Ran..in the...same circles._

"They were friends?" Orihime asks. 

Baigon shakes his head. 

"Acquaintances, then," Orihime concludes. "Like me and Michiru." 

Baigon nods, seeming satisfied. 

Outside, a fighter jet roars loudly. Sora always loved fighter jets. Was that him, or was that her? At what point did this world stop becoming his and start becoming hers? Did it make Baigon sad? She doesn't want to know. She also really wants to know. 

She sips on her tea silently, as does Baigon. Around them, the workshop is alive with the vibrant sparks of creation. It's kind of like one of those build-a-bear commercials, she muses. No sooner than the thought leaves her head, an actual soft-looking bear springs out of one of the pipes. It's wearing the same clothes Baigon is, down to the mask he dons on his face. 

Orihime laughs quietly. Baigon looks pleased at the new companion, watching as it stalks up to him on clunky legs. 

"I'm glad I could give you a friend," she says in glee, watching Baigon pet the bear on the head. "It must get kind of lonely in here." She regards the room and the jungle of tinkerings. 

_Sometimes,_ he signs, hoisting the bear on his hip affectionately. 

"Do you - do you miss him? Sora, I mean." It slips out quietly, against her will. 

She looks at Baigon from the corner of her eyes, barely watching him. Her hand trembles. 

He makes a _'kind of'_ motion. _Not too much because_...Orihime leans forward again, trying not to squint too much. 

_Because he lives on through you._

Orihime bursts into tears after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter I was most nervous to write because I totally didn't want to bungle up sign language & deaf communication. Please do give me feedback on how you guys tackle signing in fic because I'd love to know how we, as able-bodied writers, can incorporate more inclusivity in fic and do it justice. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, as always I'm kazeshini-a on Tumblr! Come say hi!


	6. chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the cusp of peak detective work, Orihime drops a bombshell. The gang gets a step closer to finding answers.

According to Tatsuki, Orihime cried and cried and cried after her trip to Baigon's world. Just straight up tears for a good fifteen minutes before actually relating the events that occurred. 

Ishida sighs and sits down beside her, on the stairs. They're supposed to be in homeroom in fifteen minutes and he doesn't want to take her there with this look on her face. 

Her eyes are still puffy and red, but she seems at peace. In this weird, tranquilized state, like she finally gets it. Like she understands. 

"Make sure Ichigo doesn't see her like this," Tatsuki says, to Chad in the background. "I'm really not in the mood to lie today." 

Chad scrambles off, presumably in search of Ichigo. Tatsuki comes and sits down on the other side. She looks tired, but mainly relieved that the information on Sora isn’t all that incriminating as she feared it would be. 

"Orihime," Tatsuki says gently. "You were so smart and so brave in there. _So_ brave." 

"Plenty craftful too," Uryuu adds. "I mean, learning rudimentary sign language in mere days? You're making the rest of us look bad." 

Orihime giggles slightly at that, wiping at her cheeks. 

"I know we have new information," Uryuu continues. Tatsuki cuts him a warning look. "But that can wait. We don't have to do this until you feel better." 

Orihime nods. "Guys," she says softly. "I'm not crying because I'm sad. I'm just crying because I haven't in a while and thinking about Sora and Baigon and everything was just...a little overwhelming." 

"We know." They say in unison. 

"But I'm happy, I really am," Orihime insists. "If anything, this just confirms how much Sora really l-loved me." 

She explodes into tears again, collapsing into Tatsuki's shoulder. 

Uryuu feels awkward, he doesn't exactly know what he should do. Bringing Kurosaki here would cheer her up, but Kurosaki's an idiot who won't let this go so perhaps he could give the next best alternative…

He stands up. Tatsuki raises her eyebrows. 

"Chad took pictures yesterday when we were at the arcade," Uryuu explains. "There are some truly mortifying ones of Kurosaki, I'm gonna go bring them for you." 

"Nevermind that, we should all be getting to homeroom anyway," Tatsuki says, getting to her feet. "Lets meet him there and give Ichigo some grief right to his face." 

"Perfectly sound idea, Arisawa," Uryuu says. "How about it, Orihime?" He offers his elbow, Tatsuki offers hers and Orihime loops each hand through them. 

"Not too much grief though," she says in a small voice as they descend the stairs together. "He did help me learn." 

Tatsuki scoffs. "Let me guess, he just sat there and looked stupid while you did the actual studying." 

Uryuu chuckles. "You definitely seem well-versed in the ways of Kurosaki." 

“Trust me, it’s not something I’m proud of.” 

.

In homeroom, Tatsuki passes Orihime off to Ichigo and Chad. There's plenty of arcade tales they say they've got, so she knows Orihime's going to be occupied for the time being. It distracts Ichigo like a charm. Those concerned looks of his were starting to become troublesome. 

Tatsuki, however, stalks up to Uryuu. She crosses her arms. "We need to have a meeting soon. All of us." 

Uryuu nods. "We do. I was thinking Friday?" 

"It's no good," Tatsuki declines. "She's going to Ichigo's on Friday, for the biology thing." 

Uryuu groans, pinching his brows. "I thought they finished that in the library." Though Uryuu could have caught her attention back then, he hadn't, mainly because of how absorbed those two looked in their own little bubble. In retrospect, he should have realized that if they were _that_ absorbed, they probably hadn't been doing schoolwork at all. 

Tatsuki shrugs, with a gratuitous eye roll. "Either way, we can't make her miss that or she'll actually hate us," Tatsuki says, tapping her fingers on her cheek thoughtfully. "How about today?" 

Uryuu shakes his head. "Today is mitten-making day." 

"You're kidding. We're finally getting somewhere and you want to put it on the back-burner for _mittens_?" Tatsuki demands. "This baby's not even gonna remember it!" 

"It's called self-care Arisawa, look it up," Uryuu says unironically and she wants to slap him. She'd praise Orihime for having the patience of a saint, but the better part of her knows that Orihime only gets along with these idiots because she's just as pain-evoking as them. 

"Saturday," he offers finally. "Right after school." 

"Saturday." Tatsuki agrees, letting out a breath. 

She's about to go, but Uryuu stops her. "There's one more thing," he says. 

"Shoot." 

"Kurosaki usually feels very social on Saturdays for some reason," Uryuu says, looking mildly disgusted. "He'll want to have lunch, or do some other inane group bonding activity that'll eventually include Keigo because Kurosaki has a hard time saying no to him."

Tatsuki grimaces. "You mean Keigo has a hard time taking no for an answer." 

"Same thing." They could get rid of Ichigo but Keigo would be hard to shake off. 

"I'll talk to his sisters," Tatsuki decides. "They've been crying about not spending enough time with him anyway, I'm sure I can get them to force him home for lunch." 

Uryuu nods agreeably because Keigo goes where Ichigo goes. 

Tatsuki stares at him, like she's waiting for him to join her. "Come on, what are you waiting for?" she snaps. "There's pictures of Ichigo I need to roast." 

"Right!" Uryuu falls in line with her, walking up to where the rest of their friends are.

.

That evening, Uryuu comes over to Orihime's house. She’s still a little shaken from her trip down to Baigon’s world, but she’s mostly come to. When she sees his figure coming up her street, she dashes out of her apartment to greet him. 

“Hi!” she cheers. He’s in his _‘I’m not a nerd, I’m just smarter than you’_ shirt that they collectively bought for his birthday last year. She grins widely. “I thought you hated this shirt.”

“Ryuuken chose today of all days to make our maids do laundry,” Uryuu grumbles. “He said this shirt was ‘most unbecoming’ though so I think I might start to wear it more often.” 

Orihime laughs, tossing her head up in the air. The first few days she and Uryuu talked about his father, she was definitely concerned but she thinks she’s getting used to it. Somehow, all of her friends seem to have complicated or nonexistent relationships with their fathers so Uryuu fits right in, in that regard. She thinks of her own father a little sadly, no memories to even give her an inkling of what his face looked like. 

“Are we going upstairs?” he asks, jerking his head to her apartment.

Oh yeah. “That was initially the plan,” she says. “But the mom’s mom -- the baby’s grandmother -- wanted us to come over for tea. I told her we were working on this and she was really happy so she wants to chat.”

Uryuu raises his eyebrows. 

“Relax,” she says, as they walk up the stairs together. “She’s a kind old lady. I’ve known her and her daughter for a really long time.”

“Right,” Uryuu remarks, looking around. “Come to think of it, you live among a lot of old people don’t you?”

She tilts her head. That’s right. She doesn’t talk a lot about her living conditions, her family or anything personal of that sort, so she suspects the boys don’t actually know a lot about her life in that way. 

“I’m sure you’ve wondered how I can afford to live in a safe neighborhood, when my aunt doesn’t give me a lot,” Orihime says, as they approach apartment _#406_. 

“We- we didn’t want to invade your privacy,” Uryuu stutters. Truth is, he, Chad and Ichigo have had a lot of heated Conversations about her frankly unpleasant aunt who hung this whole ‘I pay for your life’ thing over her head way too much, to the point where Orihime had to start working to afford her meals, but that’s not something he likes to think about. 

“They give me a concession,” Orihime explains. “Since I’m technically, um, an orphan, I can apply for reduced rent benefits and other stuff.” 

Uryuu nods, averting his eyes. They ring the doorbell. 

A woman, probably in her mid-60s, opened the door. She had frosty blue hair, and a kind smile. “Hello, ‘Hime,” she greets. “Is this your expert craftsman best friend, then?”

Uryuu flushes. “Good afternoon. I’m Ishida Uryuu.” 

“Afternoon,” she says pleasantly. “I’m Rika. My daughter’s the one you kids are making these mittens for.” She points to a room in the inner pocket of the apartment. “She’s currently asleep. Her nausea gets really bad in the afternoons.” 

Rika leads them into the kitchen. It looks kind of chaotic, an old-fashioned kettle whistling shrilly. There’s all kinds of weird food combinations half-eaten in different bowls, scattered across the counters. On the wall is a picture of Rika, her daughter and what looked like her daughter’s husband. 

“How far along is she?” Uryuu asks. Orihime sits down near a low table and he mimics her. 

“The last trimester,” Rika emerges from the kitchen with two tea mugs in her hands. “She’s huge now.” 

Orihime giggles. “I thought she was having twins, but turns out pregnant mothers are just that big.” She takes a sip of her tea. 

“Oh, don’t tell her that, she’s been fussy about her weight all summer,” Rika warns. “These doctors, I tell you, putting weight restrictions on our women. Even in pregnancy, men won’t give us the freedom to just let ourselves go.” She waves a hand around, complaining in the tone of someone who has absolutely told this story way too many times. “I keep telling Aiko to get herself a lady doctor but she refuses.”

Orihime smiles in sympathy. 

“I see,” Uryuu comments. “If there’s a problem with the healthcare you’re being provided, perhaps you should look into Karakura General. They have a very lenient and flexible view of obstetrics and gynecology. Just last year they increased the budget for all facets of parenthood, it’s a very decent deal.” He oversaw it himself, over his father’s reluctant shoulder. Not that he cares much for medicine anyway. Or his father. 

“Uryuu’s father is Director General,” Orihime explains quickly, lest Rika thinks her friends have unhealthy obsessions with hospital budgets. 

“Ah,” Rika says, in a knowing tone. Uryuu wonders what that means. Rika looks at him curiously, before heading back into the kitchen. “I guess Karakua General is a lot closer than Matsukura.” She calls out from inside. He feels strange. The apartment smells of incense and there’s all kinds of weird plants and herbs hanging on the flowery walls. 

Orihime doesn’t seem perturbed, reaching out for her half-finished mittens. They feel soft and small, made uniformly with a great deal of love and care. Uryuu takes half of it from her and examines it in his fingers. 

Suddenly, a weird shape starts to form above the table. It takes the silhouette of a young man in his 30s, a ghost. He’s wearing a suit and tie, thick rimmed glasses on his rectangular face. Uryuu widens his eyes. Orihime looks up from her work curiously too. 

“I’m lost,” he wails, throwing one dramatic hand on his forehead in lament. 

They both glance back at Rika in the kitchen.

“If only Soul Society sent someone competent down here to perform a _konso_ ,” Uryuu groans, inching away as the ghost edges closer to him.

“Oh, don’t mind Ricky, he comes down here all the time,” Rika comes back, waving a hand dismissively. “I think it’s because our names are so similar.” 

“Lost!” he sobs, floating to the kitchen. 

Orihime and Uryuu widen their eyes. 

“Rika, you can see ghosts?” Orihime stutters. 

“Relax,” Rika says lazily, sitting back down. “You’re hardly the first with the Sight to live here. We always thought your brother’s was stronger, though.” 

Orihime nearly drops her teacup. What was it with people just throwing offhand facts about her brother lately? _“What?”_

Uryuu looks between them and quirks an eyebrow. 

“Honey, you’re smart, you must have obviously wondered how your brother chanced upon a place like this, right? I mean it’s nowhere close to your old hometown, nor is it a very popular neighborhood for young-uns.” Rika looks at her strangely. 

Orihime pales. “I don’t get it.”

“Well, you _were_ very young,” Rika excuses, ignoring her. “Anyway, your brother met us on SeersSeekingSeers.”

“SeersSeekingSeers?” Uryuu frowns. The name was familiar. “I thought that was a fraud site believed to be a front for a child abduction ring that got taken down.”

Rika looks unimpressed. “Do I look like a child predator to you?”

“No ma’am!” Uryuu exclaims quickly. Orihime, however, looks stricken. 

“Rika,” Orihime says quietly. “What do you mean he _met_ you there?”

Rika purses her lips. “Honey, maybe it’s for the best that we don’t talk about your brother, God rest his soul. You look so upset. I only called you here so we could knit and talk --”

“I need to know.” Orihime interrupts firmly, in a tone Uryuu’s never heard her take before. Her eyes are dark and intent, staring into Rika’s. 

Rika looks between them uncertainly. Uryuu just nods in support of Orihime's question. 

“Well, it was the summer before you two moved,” she explains. “The online community for Seers had grown very active then, with the advent of the internet, so several of us formed a thread to communicate with each other.”

“And you met Sora on there?” Orihime asks blankly, all her sewing equipment abandoned for leaning forward in heightened interest. 

“He messaged us, yes, claiming he himself could See,” Rikia explains. “And that he was looking for a safe space to stay for himself and his baby sister. Me and my sister were running the site then, so we told him to contact child services, but he seemed insistent on taking our help. Said his parents were practicing a lot of ‘dark stuff’ and he was afraid something might affect his little sister, so he asked if we could meet.” 

“What then?” Uryuu prods, because Orihime looks like she’s having a hard time breathing. 

“So we met,” Rika says simply. She glances at Orihime. “He must have been pretty desperate then, since he considered meeting two adults he barely knew to ask for help.” 

“What kind of help?” Orihime whispers. 

“Well, first of all, a place to stay,” she answers. “And secondary -- though you’ve probably guessed it by now -- protection.” She rubs her palms guiltily. “At the time, we were just a social networking site for sharing stories and expressing solidarity with others like us. We had no intention of taking on anyone who performed ‘dark stuff.’ We didn’t want to make any enemies so --”

“So you brushed him off,” Uryuu concludes. He turns to Orihime. “He got desperate. He was afraid for your safety because he could See and he didn’t like what he was seeing, so to speak.” 

“We didn’t brush him off!” Rika defends. “We told him to wait it out while we could secure a place for him.” She turns to Orihime. “My sister and I worked very hard to help your brother cross legal loopholes and adopt you, you know. We even went head-to-head with the landlord and got him to wait until your brother got a job. It was just the protection part that we said he was on his own for and he was _okay with it._ “

“I’m sorry, Rika, we didn’t mean to offend you!” Orihime says, flailing her arms around but Rika looked cross and offended nonetheless. 

“I think you two should leave,” Rika says flatly. “You’re tracking in bad energy with you.”

“But --” 

Rika already snatches back the tea mugs. “I’ll tell Aiko you stopped by. Thanks for the mittens.”

Uryuu feels a rise of anger in his throat. He wants to yell at her, call her a half-ass Seer or something of the Kurosaki equivalent, but that’ll probably make things worse for Orihime, who has to live here. He clenches his fist, but calms down.

“I’m sorry for the trouble,” Orihime says softly, rising to her feet. Uryuu follows her. 

“Lost!” howls the ghost again, as he and Orihime exit the apartment. 

Once they’re out of there, Uryuu glances at Orihime. She looks sullen, like she’s deep in thought. He isn’t exactly sure how to help her, but the information provided by Rika has started to connect dots in his head. He’s able to get a vague sense of motivations and intentions of most of the parties involved, but he still hasn’t figured out what the spirit wants. The metaphorical center of this spider web. 

“I’m sorry this afternoon didn’t work out the way we planned it,” Orihime says. “I should have controlled myself better.”

Uryuu shakes his head. “Rika reacted like that because she was guilty. I don’t think this has anything to do with you.” 

Orihime nods, crossing her arms. “Though her story makes a lot of sense regarding what you were saying in my house last time, remember?” she says, as they walk back to the street. “You were wondering what brought everyone here.”

“Your brother came seeking protection,” Uryuu says. “And he was eventually able to find it…”

“But that night, he wanted to be sure,” Orihime finishes. “So he made a deal for my powers?”

Uryuu frowns. “See, that’s what doesn’t fit the puzzle. It’s clear you inherited your powers, most children of high reiatsu families do. And the mention of your parents doing ‘dark stuff’ -- as Rika said -- must mean they were endowed too.” 

“So that means I would have gotten my powers one way or another,” Orihime says pensively. “But Uryuu, didn’t Urahara tell us I got my powers from the Hougyoku? That’s how he said Chad and I got it.” 

Uryuu feels his head swimming. He consults her. “I’ll need some time to sit on this. I’m going to head home.” 

She nods, seeming eager to get some alone time too. He pats her shoulder, mentally promising himself to come up with a better project for them to do next time. 

As Uryuu runs home, he feels more questions swarm in than answers. He sends Tatsuki a series of messages to update her on the information they've inadvertently collected. It was her, after all, who was most troubled by the fact that they were slacking off to sew. 

He sets his mouth into a firm line, jogging towards his own neighborhood.

_____________ 

The walk to Ichigo's house isn't long, but it's cold. It shouldn't be this cold, but it has been raining all week so maybe the shivers are warranted.

Orihime skirts past the sidewalk nonetheless, tugging Sora's jacket tightly around her body. The conversation with Rika puts her so down she feels she could cry at any point of time. She knows she was there the whole time, but she feels like such an invisible participant in the story. She can only wonder how alone Sora must have felt, fending for them. She shakes off the feeling. If she keeps this sorrowful look on her face any longer, she’s going to head home and cancel the meeting with Ichigo. She doesn’t want that.

There's a black cat on a rooftop that may not may not be Yoruichi. Orihime raises her hand to wave at it, but it simply raises its head haughtily and walks away. 

Aw. She pouts, feeling dismayed at being ignored by cute animals that she just wants to be friends with. She turns a corner and comes up on the street where Ichigo lives, so she texts him to let him know she's here ( _im outside!!!!!! [smiley face]!!!_ ). The prospect of seeing baby pictures for a project seems like some kind of loophole in the system, but Orihime doesn't question it twice because she's been looking forward to this all week. 

She's nearly on the Kurosakis' lawn now, when she feels a sudden, ringing sensation in the air. The hair on the back of her neck springs up sharply. A thick vibration starts to thrum and she feels it all the way in her belly. Suddenly, Orihime knows. The spirit is here. 

_Not now!_ she scolds in her head. 

She turns over her shoulder, and sure enough, the girl is standing across from her on the street. Orihime slowly turns on her heel, feeling her heart rise to her throat. She feels like she should say something, but she doesn't know what. 

To her surprise, the spirit raises her pale hand and beckons Orihime to come closer. That feels very shady, but Orihime decides to step forward anyway. She crosses the street gingerly, her eyes never leaving the silhouette. The spirit looks exactly like she did that night, her lips darkening on her pale skin. There's five feet of distance between them. 

"Are you..." Orihime doesn't know what to say. She's never been around the spirit this long without the latter fleeing. There's a heavy silence in the air, the only sounds being crickets in the vicinity. 

The spirit opens her mouth, but there's a sudden movement in the air. The black cat from before yowls, springing in between Orihime and the girl. The break in silence is so jarring, Orihime stumbles a few feet back. The spirit vanishes. 

Come to think of it, this cat does look like Yoruichi. Orihime frowns. "Yoruichi, what --" 

The porch light switches on and the front door of the Kurosaki house opens, making them both jump. Kurosaki Isshin leans against the door frame, eyes darting between Orihime and Yoruichi. 

"Orihime, what are you doing out there?" Isshin asks finally. "Come on in." 

There's a sudden awkwardness in the air, as all three of them are quiet. Something transpired here. 

"Are we having other kinds of company tonight?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at Yoruichi. She snorts, raising her tail high in the air. She nudges Orihime with her paw, pushing her to go forward. 

"Right," Orihime stutters, looking over her shoulder at the cat. Once she's standing beside Isshin, she glances over again but she isn't there anymore. Yoruichi, that is, but also the spirit. 

Orihime wonders if Isshin felt it too. She shudders. It's warm again now, and the stark difference in temperature gives her goosebumps. "Thanks for having me over," she smiles at Isshin, with a tiny bow. 

"Let's get you inside," he says warmly, escorting her to the living room. They don't talk about what happened outside, which is strange, Orihime thinks, because it's not exactly a secret that he's a shinigami anymore. "Ichigo said you'd be coming but I think he himself forgot, that absentminded boy."

Oh. Orihime feels her stomach sink in disappointment but she soldiers on with a smile. She did send him a text reminding him...Should she turn back? 

"Who are you calling absentminded?" Ichigo demands suddenly, coming down the stairs. His hair is wet and he looks all shower-fresh, a towel hanging around the shoulders of his light gray t-shirt. He looks so _domestic_ it makes her toes hurt. "And I did remember, old man, don't embarrass me in front of my friends." He whacks his dad’s shoulder and steps out of the stairway. 

He hangs his towel over the chair and comes over to Orihime. "Hey," he says, with a small smile. "Glad you made it." 

She smiles back, all the warmth returning to her cheeks. Of course he remembered. 

Suddenly, she remembers the basket in her hands, so she thrusts it forward. "Cookies!" she exclaims. 

"You didn't have to," Ichigo says, taking it from her. Orihime tries not to think about how their fingers brush, his shower-warm hands on her rain-cold ones. 

Somewhere from the kitchen, Yuzu and Karin emerge to come and see the commotion. Yuzu waves sweetly at her but Karin immediately darts forward to take the basket from Ichigo, shoving her hand inside to examine the goodies. Orihime giggles. 

"Hey!" Ichigo snaps, flicking her arm, albeit gently. "You forgot something." 

Karin looks up at him questioningly, but Ichigo just jerks his head pointedly at Orihime. 

"Oh, sorry, hi," Karin says, looking sheepish. "I just got excited because these cookies are like, genuinely so good."

"That's okay!" Orihime says, with a laugh. "I'm glad you like them so much."

"Thank you for bringing them," Yuzu adds, taking the basket from Karin and peering inside. "Will you be wanting this back?" She raises the basket. 

"Oh, you can keep it," Orihime says. "They're disposable, is what my boss says." 

"Great," Isshin says, clapping Yuzu's shoulders. "Why don't you kids get settled? I'm gonna go take out the trash and then come give you the keys to the album drawer." 

Orihime thinks that's most likely a lie, since the trash is already out on the Kurosaki's lawn front, but no one else seems to notice. In all likelihood, he's probably going to talk to Yoruichi outside. She gnaws her lip thoughtfully. Maybe she could find a way to follow them...

"Leave some for us," Ichigo says, pointing at the basket. "We're gonna go upstairs." All semblance of clear thought leaves her brain. _What?_

"To your room?" Karin asks dubiously. Orihime feels her cheeks turn pink. 

"Who else's?" Ichigo asks with a shrug, Karin's implication going completely over his head. He turns to Orihime. "You ready?" 

She nods quickly, trying not to think about the fact that they're going to _his_ room, in _his_ house. Tatsuki says pinching your nose when you feel like passing out is a great trick. 

“You’re gonna make them keep the door open right?” she hears Karin ask their dad. 

Orihime's going to be doing a lot of nose pinching tonight. 

.

Some time during the course of their work, Yuzu and Karin sneak in. They usually don't do that, unless it's Chad he's brought over, but Ichigo suspects the girls are curious. Orihime is kind of popular and they’ve never interacted with her one-on-one before (or in this case two-on-one) so they lie on their bellies, sprawled across his floor, examining the albums with them. 

Occasionally, they pretend not to listen to Ichigo and Orihime’s conversation but they’re really bad at it, so Ichigo can tell whenever they're eavesdropping. Orihime, however, keeps fidgeting and darting glances towards his window for some reason. He wants to ask what's up, but Karin and Yuzu's chatter makes it damn near impossible so he keeps shoving cookies into her hand instead. It isn't a perfect antidote, but it helps grasp her attention from whatever she's not-so-subtly distracted by. He might not be a mind-reader, but even he knows the best way to keep Orihime's focus on him is to give her food. She nibbles lightly, careful not to spill over any of the albums, but her eyes seem glazed over. 

“This was during that stupid summer carnival Dad made us go to, remember?” Karin nudges, showing Yuzu a picture. “Where that stupid boy tried to push you into the pool when he heard you were afraid of swimming?”

“I wasn’t _afraid_ , I just didn’t know how!” Yuzu scolds. “Also you really shouldn’t have picked a fight with him, he was scary.”

“I won.” She smirks in a way that’s not entirely unlike Ichigo, and Yuzu sighs. 

She shows the picture to Orihime. “See? That’s us in our camp uniforms, though they’re really not doing much for my look,” Yuzu explains. Orihime looks at it with a small smile and then shows Ichigo. Sure enough, Karin and Yuzu both look stupid in their green camp uniforms, and their smiles look very forced like Isshin pissed them off seconds before he took it, but it’s cute. 

“Option 1?” he asks her. “There are definitely better ones in there, but I think we should set this aside.” 

She nods, putting it in a pile of possible pictures. They pick up another book and this one was probably during their third birthday, because there’s a lot of balloons and candle-blowing. Ichigo’s in a few of these too, looking weird and prepubescent and... 

“Cute!” Orihime exclaims, taking the book from him to get a closer look. Oh. He would have said lanky. 

He scowls, feeling his face heat up as Karin and Yuzu lean over her shoulder to see. There’s one picture in particular where he’s holding both their hands as they cut the cake. It makes him both soft _and_ embarrassed on the inside. Yuzu and Karin aren’t looking at the camera -- their eyes are on the Squirtle-themed cake -- but Ichigo is smiling open and wide, directly at whoever is taking the picture. His mom, probably. He doesn’t remember this birthday much, except for the fact that there had been a huge fight over whether the cake should have been Charmander (Karin’s favorite pokemon) or Bulbasaur (Yuzu’s favorite). In the end his parents decided to take his consultation and go with Squirtle, a reasonable middle ground. 

Boy, is he glad he doesn’t have a twin. He looks over at Orihime, who looks unreasonably happy at seeing all these pictures. Her fingers gloss over each of them gingerly, like she’s afraid of invading on a private moment long gone. She takes a few pictures with her phone of him and Tatsuki in their karate gear, though, laughing to herself at how cute they looked, almost like siblings. Well, at least she isn't distracted anymore. Baby steps. 

“Why isn’t dad in any of these?” Yuzu complains, snapping him out of it. “There’s a few of mom’s, but none of dad’s.” 

“He was probably taking the pictures,” Ichigo says, at the same time Karin shoves him aside and demands Yuzu to show her the pictures of their mom. 

They awe over it for a second, with the reverence of children who barely knew her and probably idealised her a lot in their heads. 

“See?” Karin says softly to Orihime. “That’s our mom.” She crosses her arms. “I look nothing like her. Guess I got all my winning charms from old goat-chin.” She says this flatly, like she’s embarrassed. 

Ichigo raises his eyebrows. Karin’s never cared about shit like that, but he guesses she does now because she’s scowling and staring at the ground fixedly. 

“I think you’re very pretty, though, Karin,” Orihime remarks genuinely, returning the photo to her and Karin’s eyes go wide. 

Yuzu catches Ichigo’s eye and smiles and yeah, he guesses it doesn’t hurt to be told you look nice every once in a while though Yuzu is definitely more open about fishing for compliments than Karin is. 

“Thanks,” Karin says weakly. “I think you’re very pretty too.” She refuses to look anyone in the eyes anymore and goes back over to Yuzu’s side, pretending to be very occupied with her book.

Orihime beams. 

Ichigo scoffs and turns to her. “Do _you_ have any baby pictures?” It’s only fair he sees them, since they’ve spent all evening cooing and laughing at his, but he kind of regrets it the second he says it. There’s a tiny flash of sadness in Orihime’s eyes and of course she doesn’t have a lot of baby pictures because her parents probably never cared to take as many as Ichigo’s did. 

He’s about to apologize, but Orihime fishes for her wallet from inside her jacket. “I only have one,” she says, softly, handing it to Ichigo. Yuzu and Karin immediately scramble back to his side to see. 

In the picture, Orihime is _tiny_. She’s wearing a maroon cardigan and a beige skirt, and her brother’s carrying her piggyback. He looks roughly the age they are now, his dark hair long enough to be tied into a short ponytail. Ichigo imagines she tied it for him, with her chubby fingers. Her eyes are so wide in her smile that they sink into her flushed cheeks. He’s smiling too, but he also looks tired. There’s snow in the background and the bottom of the photograph says, _‘Hime and Sora, Christmas Eve’_ in neat and elegant handwriting.

“Wow, that’s your brother?” Karin asks. “I didn’t know he was so much older than you.” She glances at Ichigo, who's told her next to nothing about Orihime and her brother. He shakes his head. Karin narrows her eyes questioningly. 

“You look so cute,” Yuzu giggles, snapping them out of it. 

“You’re wearing a skirt,” Ichigo observes curtly, taking the picture from Yuzu. “In snow. Why were you wearing a skirt?” 

It’s not that Ichigo doesn’t like Orihime’s brother -- he didn’t even know the guy -- but if there’s one thing Ichigo knows a lot about, it’s how to be a brother and turning into a Hollow to devour your own sister is not a good way to do it. It might not have entirely been his fault and he might have salvaged himself later, but still. Tatsuki once said Orihime adored him, but sisters are always doing silly things like that, putting up their brothers on a pedestal when most of them barely deserved it. Rukia did it, too, though how anyone could see Byakuya as a good brother is a mystery to him. 

He thinks he might offend Orihime in some way, but she laughs into her palm, her eyes misty. “We had a fight about that,” she recalls. “He wanted me to wear something warm but I wanted to wear a skirt so we fought and fought and he eventually agreed to let me wear it just for this picture and then made me go back upstairs and change.” 

That, _that_ sounds more brotherly. Maybe Ichigo shouldn’t have been so quick to judge. This _was_ the guy that raised Orihime Inoue, resident trouble-magnet, after all. 

“Who took the picture?” Ichigo asks, with a frown. Their parents? But this is in front of their Karakura apartment. He recognizes the layout. 

“My neighbor,” she explains. “We couldn’t really afford a camera at the time but Sora wanted a picture to remember that holiday by, so she agreed to take one for us.”

Yuzu and Karin listen quietly, no doubt having a lot of questions about Orihime’s family, but they don’t ask. He's glad they don't, because he doesn't like the sad look in her eyes one bit. 

He returns the picture to Orihime and she carefully puts it back in the folds of her wallet. 

“Well,” he says, picking up their pile. “I think the first day of school pictures should be good enough for our project, what do you think?” 

“Hmm, I agree.” Orihime says, biting her lip. They quickly decide to make copies of it just in case and go over other project details. They spent an absurd amount of time looking at these, when really they should have just picked one or two and gone with it but it was fun. When Yuzu and Karin leave to go back downstairs, he decides to tell her, but she seems to be staring wistfully at her hands. 

Ichigo nudges her shoulder with his. "You okay?"

She turns to look up at him and _wow_ , they're close. Orihime's eyes are warm and wide, the shade of syrupy honey. She smells like fruity shampoo and sugary bakery goods, like she always does and it's kind of dizzying. 

She nods, gnawing her lip. Ichigo purposefully doesn't let his gaze follow. Instead, he lets his arm rest on the bed behind her, feeling the air slowly return to his lungs. 

"Do you ever feel like you barely know someone you used to think you knew really well?" she asks quietly, staring at her socked feet. 

He stares up at the ceiling. Well, there's his dad. He'll never admit this to anyone, but finding out his dad was actually a shinigami all along fucking hurt. There were all the adults that never actually told him anything until they decided it was relevant. 

"Is this about your brother?" he asks quietly. He notices how she instinctively wraps her jacket tighter around herself. 

"I don't know," she admits, with a pout. "I feel so lost." 

Ichigo swallows dryly. "If there's something you wanna talk about, you can tell me," he says. "I'm no Tatsuki but I'll listen." 

Orihime's eyes widen in realization, and she feels her cheeks grow warm. "Oh, thank you," she says quickly. "Me too. I mean, I'm here too, if you want to talk." She smiles at him and he feels himself involuntarily smiling back. Unfortunately she doesn't say anything, so he just stores away her comment to think about later when she leaves. 

"Anyway, thanks for coming over," he says. "I had fun." 

"Really?" Orihime asks in surprise. 

He frowns. "Why would that be a surprise?" 

Orihime pushes a few strands of hair behind her ear nervously. "Well, you know.." She waves her hands vaguely. "I thought with your powers gone…" 

She doesn't finish her sentence, but he gets it. 

He coughs lightly, averting his eyes. "I'm not gonna lie, I do miss it," he says, feeling his heart tug in that strange, phantom way. "But as long as there's no big threats, I think I can live with being normal." 

"What about Rukia?" she whispers sadly. "And Renji? Don't you miss them?"

She regards him, like she's afraid she's struck a nerve. Ichigo bites his lip. It occurs to him that he's let a long silence pass, long enough that it's weird now. He shakes his head. "They've got their jobs to do, I've got mine," he says finally. "It's fine. I don't wanna dwell on it too much." 

Orihime nods quickly. Her eyes get all watery, so she brings up a sleeve to quickly wipe them away. "Thank you for having me over," she chirps brightly, too brightly. "I had fun too." 

"Great," he remarks, rubbing his palms together. It dawns on him that they also should have practiced their presentation at least once but it’s already so late in the evening now and she’s probably got to go home for dinner. They’ll have to wing it, but Ichigo doesn’t mind because Winging It is what he does best. Whatever it is, he won’t have to do it alone anyway. He regards Orihime with a small smile. "Want me to walk you home?"

She frowns, gnawing at her lip again. Ichigo wants to tug at it to stop her. She'll chap her lips and it's driving him crazy. It's all Rukia's fault for blugeoning him with weird manga romance tropes. He's sure no one in their right minds would find something as basic and frankly unpleasant as _lip-chewing_ to be attractive but somehow Orihime --

"Actually," she turns to face him, cutting off his line of thought. "There's something I wanted to pick up from the convienience store," she says hurriedy, and Ichigo's almost certain that's a lie. It has to be, the way she's avoiding his eyes. She glances at him again, almost pleadingly. "Would it be okay if your dad could drop me off?"

"My dad?" he echoes, narrowing his eyebrows. 

"Yeah," she stutters, now biting the edge of her nail. "My teeth are very sensitive and the local store doesn't sell the paste I usually use so maybe I thought...you know, since it's kind of far--"

"I'll walk you there," he insists, cutting her off. He calls bull on this paste story; Orihime's a bad liar and more so a bad liar to _him._ Contrary to popular belief, Orihime only rambles when she's lying or excited and he doesn't think there's anything remotely exciting about sensitive teeth so he's narrowed down on the former.

She flails her arms ahead of her in regret, the rapid motion nearly dizzying him. "Really, that's okay! Forget I even asked, I'll just go some other time!" 

Ichigo frowns. "Orihime," he says flatly. 

"Ichigo," she returns, with an innocent look that he definitely doesn't buy. 

"Is everything alright? Are you in trouble or something?" he asks, dropping his stern tone for concern instead. "I don't mind asking my dad, it just seems like you aren't telling me something and I'm just worried, that's all." 

Orihime's eyes go wide, and he's sure he's hit the jackpot. She stares at her lap, a timid flush on her cheeks. "Well, it's...I didn't really want to tell you this but I don't think I can keep it a secret much longer, can I?" 

He feels strangely out of breath again, his heart thundering an unsteady beat. He's never been one to make assumptions, but there are all kinds of thoughts running through his head and none of them are any good, the primary theories ranging from _'I've put nutmeg in the cookies again'_ to _'one of our friends is in trouble and we didn't want to tell you because you're a sad sack of shit who's lost his powers.'_

"I was planning a surprise party for your birthday," Orihime blurts, her face going red. "Well, all of us were, so Chad and I decided to corner your dad and ask him if we can coordinate with your sisters somehow and throw a little thing for you but now I've gone ahead and ruined it, haven't I?" She pouts, a few tears already starting to form at the corner of her eyes. "Now your birthday's destroyed and all our friends are going to hate me because I'm bad at keeping secrets."

Ichigo blinks. Well, he definitely feels like an asshole now. He wishes he could quickly backpedal but he _can't_ and there's _tears_ and --

He brushes her cheek with his thumb tenderly, running it back-and-forth across her skin. The motion of it sends a flare of heat up his own cheeks but it's too late to abort the mission now and the way Orihime's leaning into his touch makes it seem like she doesn't mind this at all, so he lets his hand rest there. The fact that he was worried about a birthday party of all things is embarrassing enough but now he's trying to comfort her in the most awkward way possible and the hole he's dug himself into is just way too deep to crawl out of. 

"Um, Ichigo?"

Right. He immediately retracts his hand and clears his throat. He forces himself to meet her eyes and offers a small smile. "It's really thoughtful of you to plan a birthday for me, Orihime," he says earnestly. "Really, I'm honoured." As his words roll out, he starts to feel more and more himself and less like the guy who cups people's cheeks to console them now, apparently. "But it's alright, I don't mind. If it helps your case, I'll just act like I didn't know and we can just forget this ever happened." He highly doubts Uryuu, Chad and Tatsuki would ever get mad at her anyway, but the statement seems to lift her spirits. 

"Really?"

"Really," he confirms. "I'll even gasp when Keigo renders a horrible version of the Happy Birthday song." 

This sets her off into giggles and he feels himself grinning back. The mental image isn't appealing in the least, but at at least they'll have an inside joke to look at each other and laugh about the day it actually happens. That alone kind of feels worth it. Besides, he hates surprise parties so the slip-up feels more like a blessing-in-disguise, but he'd never admit that to Orihime. 

He exhales, feeling the tension from earlier leave his chest. "So, there's no secrets between us right?"

Orihime nods enthusiatically. "Nu-uh, sir!" She gives him a mock salute. 

He shakes his head, feeling inwardly relieved. "If you say so."

-

"You did WHAT?"

Uryuu grimaces at the ear-grating shout Tatsuki emits. They're all gathered in Orihime's apartment for their scheduled meeting, but the meeting in question doesn't take off quite yet because of reasons Uryuu doesn't care much for. He tries to share a pained look with Chad, but the latter seems highly amused by the unfolding drama.

"You have to understand that my cover was about to be exposed and I had to do some quick thinking to get myself out alive --"

"This isn't a spy movie!" Tatsuki roars, cutting Orihime off. "You could have literally told him any lie under the sun but you chose to tell him we're throwing him a party when we're not." She crosses her arms. "You do realize we have to actually plan one now, right?"

Orihime smiles sheepishly. "Well, it doesn't really seem like that bad of an idea, actually --"

Tatsuki groans. "It's terrible. He doesn't even like parties."

Orihime frowns. "He didn't tell me that." 

"Of course he didn't." Tatsuki rolls her eyes. "He'd probably fight a snake for you too and he's actually afraid of those --"

"Ophidiophobia," Uryuu pitches in, unhelpfully. Tatsuki whacks his arm. 

"I actually thought it was smart, Orihime," Chad finally pipes up, having seen enough warfare over their new disposition. It's not like Ichigo would care much as long as they brought cake anyway. 

"Do not encourage her," Tatsuki warns, lashing at him. "I was perfectly happy with our tradition of just texting each other on our birthdays until someone," she glares at a beaming Orihime. "decided to make this a Thing."

Uryuu clears his throat, effectively silencing all of them at once. He pushes his glasses back up the bridge of nose. "As much as I detest the new, ah, developments, I think we should cross that bridge when we get to it," he says. "For now I think we should discuss the actual reasons behind our meeting." 

When he says this, there's a murmur of agreement. Orihime excuses herself and goes to her room, saying something vague about "bringing the stuff." To everyone's surprise, when she returns, Orihime drags out a whiteboard to her living room with her. There's an assortment of markers and her period journal lying on the table for some reason. There's a map of Karakura tacked to the whiteboard with double sided tape. 

"With your permission, Uryuu, I'd like to go first," Orihime says formally, rubbing her palms together. The previous atmosphere dissipates into something more serious now. All discussions of Ichigo's upcoming birthday are tucked away, the prospect of solving a mystery buzzing in the air instead. 

"Um, by all means," Uryuu replies, exchanging a concerned glance with Chad and Tatsuki. Had they gone too far now? Was Orihime going to start wearing tinfoil hats? 

Orihime draws a warehouse, a woman (presumably Their woman -- Uryuu's taken to calling her Agnes in his head). Besides Agnes is a dock light of some sort and behind the warehouse are trees. Agnes herself isn't too grand -- looking more Chibi-style -- but Uryuu appreciates the pictorial representation. It's all very student council material, a waste of her talents. 

"I'm sure all of us would prefer Rukia's sketches, but bear with me," she says, with a small grin. "This," she taps at the board. "is the scene of the incident, the night my brother and the spirit met up to strike a deal." 

"I think it would be easier if we started calling her Agnes." Uryuu blurts. 

Tatsuki groans, Chad shakes his head. 

"Perfect!" Orihime exclaims. "So Agnes and my brother were never friends, but they knew each other well enough to meet out here." She picks up a marker. "Where is 'here', by the way?" She looks among her audience of three and they all shrug. 

"Well I think I have an idea," she says. "In the dream, I saw a river, a bunch of fisheries and warehouses." 

"Karakura has two rivers," Uryuu points out. 

"Onose, overlooking the bus stop," Tatsuki muses. "And what, Matsukara overlooking the hospital?" 

"Good job!" Orihime praises. "But only one of them leads _out_ of town." She marks it with her red marker. 

"Onose," Chad answers. 

"Correct! My brother ran out of Mitaka and into Karakura," Orihime explains. "Mitaka was where we used to live, by the way. This warehouse is on the outskirts of Karakura, by Onose. That makes this," Orihime runs a blue marker in a roughly circular shape around the landmass. "The possible location of our warehouse." 

"Wow," Tatsuki exhales. "And roughly how much ground is that to cover?" 

"Ten kilometres," Orihime answers promptly. "Though I should be able to recognize it if we get close." 

Uryuu whistles. For the first time in weeks, it feels like they have something concrete. 

"I have other hypotheses, too, but I'm gonna let Chad and Uryuu take over for now." 

"Right," Chad says, feeling a little put under the spot. Tatsuki hands him a marker. "We have two theories regarding what, uh, Agnes could be." He hands it to Uryuu. 

"The first is, she's a kappa," Uryuu announces, writing it onto the whiteboard under _‘Theories’_. Tatsuki and Orihime blink. 

"We think this for three reasons," Chad says. "First, every time we spotted her, she was near a water body. The park, the library and the bridge are all near water bodies." He points to the stubby little pins Orihime has tacked on to all the sighting locations. “Ichigo’s house is close enough to the park.” 

"Kappa inhabit water," Uryuu expands. "They're also very solitary. We've never seen Agnes with anyone else, so we think that adds credence to this theory." 

"Lastly," Chad says. "Kappa are, um, interested in children. You and your brother were both children." 

Everyone ponders this for a moment. 

"Wow you boys really did your homework," Tatsuki marvels finally. "But you're wrong." She stands up and grabs a marker, flipping the whiteboard. "It's not a kappa, because a) she doesn't look like one and b)," Tatsuki scribbles below Uryuu’s work. "She met Orihime's brother because he wanted her to bestow powers on Orihime as a way of insurance in case he ever died. It was a consensual meeting. They were not lured there." 

“Oh, good thinking Tatsuki,” Orihime muses, flipping the pages of her period journal with a frown. Why did she have that? Supernatural shit is weird, Tatsuki thinks, hoping to God they’re not calculating menstrual cycles or whatever to catch this thing. 

"Which brings us to our second theory," Uryuu pipes back up. "Mr. Urahara mentioned this before, actually." 

"A yokai," Chad supplies. "And it was Tessai, not Urahara." 

Orihime frowns. "I thought yokai were supposed to be naughty." 

"Yokai are a very broad category," Uryuu explains. "There have been some good ones too, but as Mr. Urahara said, we can't really rate spirits on a good-bad scale." 

"We rate them based on their desires and objectives," Chad remembers. "So the question is…" 

"What does Agnes _want_ with Karakura?" Orihime finishes. "Or at least, what does she want with us?" 

"She hasn't attacked yet, so I'd assume she's not interested in killing us." Uryuu opines. 

"That seems like a stretch. Aizen pretended to be innocent at the start too," Chad says, rubbing at the hairs on his chin. 

"I highly doubt this is an Aizen-level threat." Uryuu scoffs. "Agnes' spiritual energy wasn't even that strong." 

"Neither is yours, but you're one of the strongest people I know." Chad points out. 

"That's an intelligence thing, more than a power thing," Uryuu argues, looking embarrassed. 

"Exactly. What if we have a very smart spirit?" Chad suggests. 

Tatsuki claps, effectively shutting them up. She stands to gain higher ground. "I might not be very well-versed in this spiritual nonsense but there is one thing I'm very good at and that," She taps the board with the marker. "is sniffing out stalkers. Specifically, sniffing out _Orihime's_ stalkers." 

They all stare at her in silence. 

"Did none of you notice how she never shows up when you guys are alone?" Tatsuki asks Chad and Uryuu. "Every time she's appeared, it's been somewhere where _Orihime_ is. The night Orihime walked to Ichigo's house? She was _alone_ , until Isshin opened the front door." Until Yoruichi intervened, Orihime thinks with a frown. 

"And it's Orihime's pins that become cold when she's around," Chad muses. 

"And you that dreams of her constantly," Uryuu adds, regarding Orihime. "Though that might be more memory-oriented, I do think it's weird that she only started showing up after you dreamed about her. There's an obvious connection." He purses his lips and glances at Chad. "Then our initial theory is right. Agnes is after Orihime." 

"That's the other thing I wanted to mention," Orihime interrupts, setting her book down. "I don't think she means any harm." 

"You can't seriously be sympathizing with a ghost that wants to kill you." Tatsuki groans. 

"Spirit," the others correct, in unison.

"What _ever_ ," Tatsuki snaps. "It's clear this thing wants you, or something to do with you." 

"Maybe the other end of the bargain that her brother made with Agnes?" Uryuu asks. “Something in exchange for giving her these powers?”

"Guys!" Orihime claps loudly. "I don't think she wants to kill me, I think she wants to talk to me." 

"How do you know?" Chad asks, befuddled. 

"Because if she wanted to kill me, she could've done it at any time," Orihime reasons. "The fact that she knew Sora, that she's possibly the reason I have these powers in the first place...she's connected to the two of us. It's a lot deeper than killing me. She needs me for something." 

"If that's the case, she's not going to talk to you with any of us around." Uryuu deduces. 

"Which is why _I_ should talk to her," Orihime says. "And I propose we start at the warehouse. It feels significant." 

"I don't like the sound of this," Chad admits. 

"Me neither," Tatsuki says. "But Orihime has a point. We need to start checking this out seriously." 

"Trip down to the warehouse?" Orihime asks, crossing her arms. 

"Trip down to the warehouse." they all reply in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SeersSeekingSeers is a fictional site I made up for the story. If a real one exists, the correlation is purely coincidental. Thanks for reading! You can find me at kazeshini-s on tumblr!


	7. chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> an overwhelming amount of you demanded justice for Chad and his stuffed toy so this chapter goes out to all of you. Chad is happy and I hope you are too!

The class isn’t any different from how it usually is on a Monday morning, but Orihime can feel a jitter of nervous energy in her stomach. She tries not to be too obvious about it, but when Mizuro accidentally bumps into her, she nearly throws up her _santen kesshun_. 

They’re going to the docks tonight, the four of them. They’ve mutually agreed that a school night is a good night because the more isolated areas are always crowded with tourists and travellers on weekends. Orihime is nervous for several reasons, but she’s also kind of excited. She's ready to unravel whatever is at the bottom of this thing. 

Beside her, Ichigo is none the wiser. She doesn’t really know if this is a good or bad thing. He rests his head in his chin, idly listening to the other presenters, but he keeps glancing over at her every time she fidgets. 

“Are you really that nervous about this presentation?” he asks her, dumbfounded, as she goes over her papers again.

She thinks about what they’ve set out to do tonight and bites her lip. “Well, it is a good portion of our grade,” she excuses, sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck.

“We’re prepared,” Ichigo says blankly and Orihime realizes that her nervousness is making him nervous too. That quickly snaps her out of it. 

“You are absolutely right,” she says, setting her papers down and smiling at him. “We’re going to nail this.” He exhales in relief and goes back to listening to the presentations. 

Orihime turns over her shoulder. She sees Tatsuki and Chad talking at the back of the class, making a lot of hand gestures and finalizing details. They still haven’t agreed on transportation, but they have everything else. Once school ends, Tatsuki and Orihime are going to go back to hers and pack an overnight bag. Then they’re going to meet the boys and head to Onose. Ichigo is going to spend the evening with his sisters, playing ludo -- according to Tatsuki, who convened with Karin to make this happen. 

She regards Ichigo a little sadly; they could have brought him -- Orihime asked several times, given Tatsuki was coming and Tatsuki didn’t have powers either -- but everyone refused. There go her dreams of courageously fighting brainwashed cyborgs on his behalf again.

Orihime doesn’t have a lot of time to go over the details of why the cyborgs were attacking, because their teacher calls them on. Soon they’re standing in front of the entire class, ready to talk about _DNA Patterns in Twins_. Tatsuki, Chad and Uryuu all stop what they’re doing to pay attention. 

To her surprise, it goes really well. Their topic is great, they’re both well-prepared _and_ everyone cooes over the pictures of the twins they show as examples. Orihime handles the question-and-answer round and Ichigo grins proudly at her every time she gets an answer right. It’s perfect. They make a good team. She sees her teacher marking something that looks suspiciously a lot like _9/10_ on her papers. Either that or she’s doodling bunnies -- Orihime can never tell. 

Once they finish up, they’re sent to go sit in the back while other pairs come up to present. She sinks into her seat, a little surprised that the project they’d spent so much time working on is finally over. To think she’d only just gotten used to hanging out with Ichigo by herself, she muses sadly. 

“That went well,” Ichigo says, slightly surprised. He wipes a bead of sweat on his pants and straightens his collar. 

“It did,” Orihime agrees. “I think she really liked it.”

“You know I had fun,” Ichigo remarks leaning into his seat. “It’s been a while since I had fun doing a school project.” 

She smiles, thinking back to their time in his house. “Me too.”

“We should go get ice cream to celebrate.” Ichigo suggests and oh, Orihime has never been this crestfallen since she found out reruns of Pokemon got taken off YouTube. Why on God’s earth did Ichigo have the worst timing? “You know there’s that new place by your job with the weird-piercing-server, right?” She wants to scream. She wants to shove her hair into her mouth --

“What’s up?” Tatsuki asks, sliding into the chair beside him. 

“I was just asking Orihime if she wants to go out tonight to celebrate our presentation going well.” Ichigo says, running a hand through his hair. 

The number of expressions going through Tatsuki’s face would have been comical if Orihime wasn’t so devastated. 

“Go out?” Tatsuki asks, settling for dubious. At least she has the gall to look sympathetic, but Orihime doesn’t miss the slight way her lips curve upward teasingly. 

“Yeah, like a friend thing,” he replies, looking a little nervous at the rapid way both girls seemed to be having a telepathic conversation with each other. “Is that wrong?”

“NO!” Orihime says immediately, so loud that a bunch of people turn back to look at them. “It is not wrong at all and I would absolutely love to hang out with you at any given time, Ichigo --” 

She glances at Tatsuki, who’s shaking her head. She’s giving her a _‘don’t give in’_ look, which is a shame because Orihime has never wanted to give in this much in her life and she’s a self-proclaimed donut enthusiast, damn it. 

“-- but I’m busy,” she says, deflating. The greater good, she tells herself, even though a tiny flash of disappointment crosses Ichigo’s eyes for a split second and breaks her heart. “We promised Tatsuki’s mom we’d keep out of her way tonight, so she’s coming to mine.”

It’s not a complete lie; she’s been trying her best not to lie to him, only giving him half-truths like when he asked her about Baigon in the library last time. But she hates it, she hates it so much. This is even worse than the birthday party lie. She remembers all the confrontations in the romance manga she reads and cries inwardly. He’s the nice, charming hero and she’s the conniving schemer who’s in the way of his relationship with an actually kind and honest girl who’d never lie to him --

Ichigo looks like he’s about to say something, but the projector clicks off and the teacher calls him to come fix it because he’s the only tall kid that understands projectors. He leaves without a word. 

Orihime buries her head in her hands. She could _cry_.

“Orihime --”

“I know,” she wails. “I know what we’re doing is important but I hate not hanging out with him and I hate lying to him _so much_ \--” 

“You didn’t lie to him,” Tatsuki says gently. “You’ve just been giving him vague truths and promising birthday parties, which is very nice of you. I know how much you guys like to be honest with each other and this sucks.” 

“But --”

“But you absolutely cannot go out with him,” Tatsuki grins, leaning back in her chair. “Funny, I thought it’d take him another few years _at least_ but looks like he’s working fast.” 

“Oh, don’t say that,” Orihime cries miserably, clawing at her cheeks. “This is the worst day of my life.” 

“Really?” Tatsuki asks, amused, shooing her hands from her face. “I thought that was the day Pokemon got taken off YouTube because of copyright issues.”

“This is the second worst day of my life.” 

Tatsuki laughs loudly, in snorts.

"It's nice that my misery is making you so happy," Orihime says, with a stubborn pout. "Nevermind that I had to turn down an evening with Ichigo or anything."

Tatsuki howls in glee, tugging her bottom lip between her index and middle fingers. "Come off it," she says, glancing at Ichigo from the corner of her eyes. "After tonight, you can have as many evenings with him as you like. We respect your incredible sacrifice for our cause." Tatsuki covers her mouth, protesting another laugh spilling out. 

"Oh you're _so_ mean to me, Tatsuki!"

_______

That night, everyone gathers outside Chad’s apartment, at his behest. It’s raining again, a dull and cold shower seeping through their clothes. It does nothing to dampen their spirits, however, because they’re all on time, their equipment hauling over their shoulders.

“I have a jeep,” Chad explains, and they all stare at him dumbfounded. “It’s not mine, but my roommate agreed to lend it.” 

“Some roommate you have,” Tatsuki mutters. The jeep is sturdy, a dark green monstrosity that looks big enough to hold four teenagers and their belongings for the night. Chad wiggles the keys in his palms. 

“At least that solves transportation,” Uryuu says, settling his hands on his hips. “You _can_ drive, right, Chad?”

“I am aware of the mechanisms of driving, yes,” Chad says in a tone that gives absolutely no one any confidence but Orihime, who’d believe in her friends even if they drove her off a cliff. 

“So can we stuff our shit in the back?” Tatsuki asks anyway, propping open the trunk. 

“Mm.” 

Orihime brings a duffel bag full of water bottles, flash lights and a map. She’s also brought a stuffed toy for each of them -- except Chad, who has his own -- “for comfort.” She presses it neatly against the back of the car. She’s in a thin, gray hoodie and sweatpants and her hair is in a tight ponytail, so she definitely means business. She slumps against the trunk, dotting her lips with chapstick while Tatsuki and Uryuu prep their own materials. 

Uryuu goes basic, bringing a utility belt stacked with all kinds of Quincy equipment. They glow a vibrant blue as he messes with them, tossing it in the back next to Orihime’s stuff. He keeps his _seele schneider_ attached to his hip, however, the gray chain fitting tightly over his waist.

Tatsuki, though. Tatsuki brings a mace.

They all give her a horrified look. The sight of Tatsuki, dressed in black gym clothes, swinging a mace over her shoulder is more threatening than any Captain or Arrancar they’ve ever seen. She exudes pure power, with her wrist bands and hiking boots and absolutely Jock cargo pants. 

“What?” she demands, at all their frightened faces. “If you thought I’m heading side-by-side with Orihime into some freaky shit without having a good weapon handy, you don’t know me at all.”

“Where did you even get such a thing?” Uryuu asks, looking appalled.

“You nerds have your secrets, I have mine,” is all she says. 

Orihime laughs, handing Chad her chapstick silently. She hasn’t spoken a lot, seemingly nervous, but she tries to stay aware and present in the moment. She’s also Very Upset at the idea of not spending time with Ichigo (especially when he asked!!! He wanted to!!!). 

Tatsuki squeezes her hand and sits down beside her. They wait for Chad, as he heads back upstairs, presumably to bring his stuff. 

When he returns, however, he only has a plastic bag in his hand. 

Tatsuki raises her eyebrows. “Tell me there’s something useful in there.” 

“Dinner.” he answers and oh. She can’t believe they didn’t recall something as basic as _dinner_ but that’s what they have Chad for. Chad is smart and Chad brings dinner and Chad can _drive_. They hope. 

“Well, that’s everything,” Uryuu says, dusting his hands. “We should be ready to go.” He checks his watch. “Remember to keep your eyes sharp, especially when we get there.” 

They all nod, boarding the car one after the other. Tatsuki sits up front with Chad, and Orihime and Uryuu sit in the back, with Snowy the Owl wedged between them. Uryuu asks if it’s really necessary to bring this toy along and no one answers him. The physical presence is only a bitter affront to him, a reminder that Kurosaki Ichigo bested him in claw-crane-combat. As it turns out, sheer willpower overpowers physics by a long shot. Uryuu hates it here. 

“Who are you texting?” Tatsuki calls over her shoulder, watching Orihime’s face light up with her phone’s brightness. “It better not be Ichigo.”

“It’s not.” she lies.

“ _Orihime_.” 

“Yuzu wanted to know how many cups of flour we put in our streusel muffins, okay?” Orihime defends. 

“You miss him,” Chad says plainly, starting up the car. 

“Chad, that’s not fair!” She pouts. “We should have brought him, though.” she adds in a tiny voice. 

Uryuu chuckles. “He’s useless enough _with_ his powers, I can’t imagine how many poles he’d run into without them.”

“Now you’re just being mean.”

“Give it up, Orihime,” Tatsuki says lazily. “The only thing he has going for him right now against us is his one-woman army of defense.” 

“Redheads,” Chad remarks. 

“Redheads. They always stick together.” Tatsuki says, grinning at Orihime’s furious expression in the backseat. At least they’ve got something to distract themselves with until they get there. 

That’s what Tatsuki tells herself to quell the quiet nervousness in her stomach, anyway. “All right kids,” she announces, turning up the radio. “Lets go hunt some goddamn spirits!” 

.

For the most part, the drive isn’t that bad. Chad manages to get them out of the city without anyone suspecting that he isn’t old enough to drive because he sure does _look_ old enough to drive. And once they’re out of the city, they’re on a long and winding road along a coastline. The seawall, the ocean and the moon all glide along with their car and the breaking wind makes it feel like they’re just kids on a nighttime drive. They eat their burritos -- which Chad specially customised for all of them -- and talk about school. Orihime feels so much closer to them, now that Tatsuki’s here too, even if a small part of her really wishes Ichigo and Rukia were with them. 

“Hey, what did you put in mine, by the way?” Tatsuki asks, crushing up her wrapping. “It was really good.” 

“I already know Orihime and Ishida’s tastes,” Chad explains. “But I didn’t know yours, so I made it closer to what I’d make for Ichigo.” 

“That feels like an underhanded insult.”

“He’s my best friend.” Chad defends.

“By choice?” 

Uryuu snorts loudly. Tatsuki grins teasingly at Orihime, expecting her to rise up in Ichigo’s defense but Orihime only glares at her before giving up. Her own burrito had wasabi, crunchy tortilla and sweet onion sauce that drizzled over the rest of the fried vegetables but she suspects Tatsuki’s must have been a little spicier. Maybe hot sauce? She should have asked for a bite…  
Her phone buzzes again. 

_yuzu says thanks for the recipe_

Orihime smiles. She sends back a string of emojis, from the happy one to the dancing one, laughing inwardly at what his scowl might look like when he reads them. Ichigo has very strong opinions on emojis, and one of her main goals is to get him to use one some day. That was what she and Rukia had planned anyway, she thinks, a little sadly. 

She breaks off from her thoughts when they pull over by a secluded corner. Ahead, she can see all the warehouses lined up. The strong smell of salt and fish colors the air, and the wind is sticky on their skin through the windows. 

“The road doesn’t go further than this,” Uryuu says, peering out of his window. “We’ll have to walk.”

“As long as we’re in the right place,” Tatsuki remarks and they all begin scrambling for equipment. Orihime clicks off her phone. She grabs her water bottle and joins the rest of them outside. The road ahead is dark, so she passes each of them a metallic flashlight. 

“Stick together,” Chad rumbles. “There’s some weird magic here.” 

Orihime can feel it too, like another layer atop her skin and sweat. It feels like standing too close to the static of television, a pressure building just at her nape. Tatsuki holds her hand in one hand, her mace tightly gripped in the other. Uryuu takes the front and Chad takes the back as they begin walking up the lone road. The jeep is parked at a safe and discreet location, but Chad takes a few pictures of landmarks on his phone to be safe. 

The area is mostly abandoned, looking similar to what she saw in her dream, except some tents have sprung up since then, hosting families of fishermen and workers. They pay little attention to Orihime and her friends, warming their hands over their fires. Distant winds roar overhead and the water from the nearby river rustles. 

They cross over the communal area and into more thick woods. Beyond this point, there should be a clearing -- which is where Sora met Agnes. It feels a little ridiculous to call her Agnes now, since Orihime’s probably going to learn her real name soon.

That’s another thing they haven’t discussed; they really should talk about when Orihime’s going to break off from the group and approach the warehouse alone. So far, her friends have expressed no desire to leave her side, but that’s going to have to change soon.

“Okay, so we’re going to come up on the cluster of warehouses at the next clearing, right?” Tatsuki confirms. “So we just have to walk through this mini section of forest until then?”

“Yes.” Uryuu says. 

“We should have brought a first aid kit,” Tatsuki frowns. “My mom would have my ass if she knew we were out in camping grounds without one.”

“I _am_ your first aid kid,” Orihime says with a giggle.

“These aren’t exactly camping grounds,” Uryuu says vaguely, more to himself than her. 

“Shit, I forgot,” Tatsuki exclaims, turning to Orihime. “So you had to do the thing every time Ichigo got beat to pulp?”

“I had to do the thing every time Ichigo got beat to pulp.” Orihime confirms. 

“Wow,” Tatsuki breathes. “Orihime, isn’t that weird?”

“Why?”

Tatsuki shrugs. “When you did it to me, it felt weirdly intimate...like we were sharing these private, unspoken parts of ourselves with each other. I mean, it didn’t feel _bad_ , it just felt very exposed.” 

Chad and Uryuu cough, both looking away from Orihime now. 

“What, you guys have felt it too?” Tatsuki grins. 

“She never healed us that often for us to notice,” Uryuu stutters. 

“Yeah, not too often.” Chad agrees quickly. 

She nudges Orihime’s elbow. “Do you know what I’m talking about?”

Orihime looks up at the sky, deep in thought. “Since I heal a lot of people I don’t really connect on a deep level with all of them, though I guess as you said they might connect with me,” she ponders. “If I heal someone often though, I can feel them in the way that you said. It gets deeper when you get used to it.” 

“So, Ichigo then?” Tatsuki says. “You heal him all the time.” 

Orihime brushes her hair away from her face self consciously, her cheeks turning light pink. “I’d like to not talk about this.” 

“Us too.” Chad and Uryuu remarked in unison, half out of respect for Ichigo and half because they just didn’t want to hear it. Tatsuki snorts, wondering how the hell this group of non-confrontational idiots ever talked about _anything_ without getting embarrassed. 

Chad flickers on his flashlight and they all follow, as they get to the darker part of the woods. It’s all familiar now, like muscle memory, though Sora was running so she hadn’t had the time to take in how these woods look. 

It’s dark everywhere, the only sounds coming from the insects and lone birds lurking around. Orihime gets the feeling that they’re being watched, and judging from the way Chad tightens his fist and Uryuu clutches his belt, she knows they feel it too. 

It’s a small forest, she tells herself, glancing at the map again. Just a little bit of growth until they reach the clearing and buildings and civilization again. 

Suddenly, there’s a piercing howl in the sky. 

“Shit.” Chad mutters, his flashlight nearly blinding her when he turns. She staggers back. 

“Hollows. Of course. They’re attracted to the sudden increase in reiatsu,” Uryuu says, withdrawing his _seele schneider_ immediately. “Remember, I’m the last option and Orihime needs to reserve her energy in case she needs to heal us later, so Chad --”

“Got it,” Tatsuki says, her mouth set in a firm line. “Chad and I will take care of it. You guys get back.” 

“Tatsuki,” Orihime says, worriedly. 

“Relax,” she replies. “I might not have done this before but a little guidance is all I need.” She swings her mace a few times, like it’s a baseball bat. “Chad, we flanking this thing?”

‘This thing’ hasn’t made itself known yet, but they all hear its roar again. 

“It’s coming from above!” Orihime warns, diving to the ground with Uryuu. When she looks up, she sees it. 

The Hollow is an oxblood monstrosity, rising nearly nine feet tall. It’s mask is conical, two eyes on either side, two tusks emerging from holes in the base. Like all other Hollows, it has a gaping hole in its chest. It’s claws are short, but they look sharp. 

One of them takes a swing at Tatsuki, with astronomical speed. Orihime calls out a _santen kesshun_ , the shield flying swiftly towards her. She becomes enveloped in a golden dome and the Hollow’s claw hits the surface. 

Their surroundings reverberate from the impact, but being exposed to the Arrancars must have made them a little stronger because they all remain rooted to the ground. It gets angry, readying itself for a double hit. One arm goes towards Chad, the other towards Tatsuki. Both dive out of the way. 

“Arisawa!” Chad yells. “I’ll get it from the bottom, you find higher ground and take it from the top!” 

“Got it!” Tatsuki darts around the Hollow and towards a cluster of trees. It turns to follow her, but Uryuu distracts it with an arrow to its thigh.

The Hollow turns around to hit them, but Orihime puts up her shield again. It roars frustratedly, punching the shield again and again, the _‘thud-thud’_ loud in her ears. Orihime takes a deep breath, but doesn’t let down her resolve, keeping the shield firm around herself and Uryuu.

Chad bolts towards it with a barreling speed, calling out his _el directo_. It hits the Hollow’s foot and cracks it wide open, all the way up to the face. It turns around to grab at Chad desperately. 

“Arisawa, crack open the mask!” Uryuu commands, from where they’re crouched. 

Tatsuki comes flying, seemingly out of nowhere, directly above the Hollow’s head. She must have gained height by climbing one of the trees, Orihime marvels in fascination.

Before the Hollow even has the chance to look up, she swings down her mace with all her strength. The impact shatters the skull with a resounding _boom_ and the Hollow cries out one last pained howl before evaporating. 

Tatsuki lands on her feet, right in the little claw print hole the Hollow had made with its foot. She rolls, and then springs back up again, dusting off her pants. The spring in her steps makes her seem like a video game character. 

Chad comes up to her and gives her a fist bump. “Epic.”

“I know right,” Tatsuki grins widely, catching Orihime’s eye in glee. 

“That. Was. Awesome!” Orihime squeals, running up to her and throwing her arms around Tatsuki’s shoulders. 

“Much better than maybe even Kurosaki’s first attempt,” Uryuu agrees, coming up behind them.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” Orihime asks, turning Tatsuki around to check for impact. “Do you want me to heal you?”

“Relax, I’ve not got a single scratch on me.”

They’re all talking over each other now, in excited chatter over how cool and League of Legends-like they were in that moment, all sense of silence and eeriness broken over the sounds of their voices and the flurry of their flashlights.

Someone clears their throat in the background. 

All four of them turn to see an old woman hunched over, watching them. She’s in tattered pink robes, and she’s clutching her cane so tightly Orihime thinks she might fall over with the way she’s trembling. She’s a human, with a tiny flame of reiatsu, just barely noticeable. Her eyes are white, her irises pale and nearly colorless.

“Hello,” Orihime says, uncertainly. “Did we wake you?”

The woman turns her head around slowly, before turning back to the group again, like she’s working out kinks in her neck. When she speaks, however, she’s got a strong voice. 

“You kids looking for Kairi?”

_______

The woman calls herself Kaho.

After the altercation with the Hollow in the woods, she invites them back to her house. Calling it a house is generous, because it’s ramshackled and barely held together. In fact, it feels held together by some sort of magic that’s unlike anything Orihime’s ever felt before. Like it’s a cluster of fragile magic put together by different people. 

They’re served tea by the Kaho and her possible grandson, who watches them curiously from behind her hunched back. 

“A lot of people around here noticed you fighting off that beast,” Kaho remarks, sitting opposite them. She nods her head towards Tatsuki. “Quite the warrior you are.” She regards Chad up and down. “You too.”

“Thank you,” they both say, bowing their heads and coloring deeply. 

“Um, I hope this isn’t rude, but who are you?” Orihime asks. “I saw some tents outside, so is this a communal area?” Though the place looks exactly like her dream, she doesn’t recall these many tents being propped up. Her brother had come here and was greeted alone. 

“We’re all just families of fishermen and women, laborers who do hard day’s work and come here to rest during the night,” Kaho explains. “Some of us are Seers, some practitioners, some have the Sense. Most of us are just decent people trying to get a good night’s sleep.” 

“The sense?”

“Reiatsu, probably,” Uryuu whispers. 

Kaho was right. There were tiny flickers of reiatsu here, very minimal, but enough to notice. “Do you get Ho - um, beasts often?” Orihime asks in concern, remembering the term Kaho had used. 

“Not frequently.” 

“Can you see these beasts?” Uryuu asks dubiously.

Kaho shakes her head. “Most of us here have very little Sight. We see silhouettes and shapes of monsters,” she explains. “Mostly they leave us alone, but sometimes the likes of you kids wander in here and cause havoc and they too come crawling out of the woodwork.”

“Kids like us?” Orihime presses.

“The men in black,” Kaho elaborates. “Bo here says he sees them sometimes but Bo’s a storyteller.”

Orihime doesn’t think Bo has said two words in his life, but the mention of men in black gets her excited. Then, she realizes belatedly, that Kaho is talking about shinigami. 

“Men in black of the Ichigo kind?” Tatsuki whispers in Orihime’s ear. Orihime nods.

“You asked if we were looking for Kairi,” Chad says, leaning on the table. It’s a very small table and Bo and Kaho both look worried that he’ll break it but Chad has never willingly broken anything delicate ever. He knows how much weight to put down, literally and metaphorically. “Who is that?”

“Oh,” Kaho says, casually, like she hasn’t been building up to this since she first saw them. “Bo, go kindle the fire.”

Bo scowls at her, but goes to kindle the fire anyway. Orihime supposes this is her old person tactic of making her story seem dangerous and self-important. It’s kind of working. Orihime loves old people's stories.

“When we first moved here, a couple families of us,” Kaho says, sipping her tea. “It was quiet during the day and peaceful during the night. Then, it started happening.”

“It?” Uryuu prods impatiently.

Kaho raises her eyebrows at him and he pipes back down sheepishly. “Yes, it. The cries of Kairi,” Kaho explains. “We can’t really see her, but we can hear her cries faintly. It scares some of the newborns to the point where they don’t sleep.” 

The four of them share a look. Could Kairi be Agnes?

“Have you tried asking her why she cries?” Orihime asks, at the same time Chad ponders, “Have you ever seen her?”

Kaho looks at both of them like they’re stupid. “Of course not. Like I said, very few of us have the Sight. Most people won’t even go by the docks even if they can’t see because they know she’s down there crying.” The docks! Where Sora met her! Orihime feels gears clicking around her brain. 

“Since when did she start crying, ma’am?” Tatsuki interrogates, crossing her arms. 

“We arrived four months ago, but she’s only been doing this for about a month now,” Kaho says, her lips disappearing into her mouth when she purses them. “My Bo says she’s upset about something but my Bo is a storyteller.” 

They exchange glances again. Kaho has a tendency to repeat herself, like creepy old people in the movies. But Kaho isn’t creepy. She made them tea, right?

“Why did you think we were looking for her?” Orihime asks, propping up her elbows on the table. 

Kaho looks directly at her like it’s obvious. “What else would kids like you be doing here? Something illicit? Ya don’t look the type.” 

Tatsuki looks down at the literal mace in her hands. Sure. 

“We want to go check out the docks,” Chad announces. “We think Kairi might have something to say to us.” 

Kaho waves her hand, like she’s saying _‘be my guest’_. She doesn’t get up. 

“Uh, thank you for the tea,” Uryuu says, pointing at their empty cups. He shoots a glance at Bo, who’s standing awkwardly near the fires. “Do you think you could maybe send your Bo with us?”

Kaho shakes her head vehemently. “Absolutely not. You took down the monster, what do you need my Bo for?”

Well, Uryuu looks at Orihime. It was worth a shot. 

They scramble out of Kaho’s cottage and head towards the docks. The air starts to get thick with fog and wispy magic again, a strange thrum beating through the area. Orihime notices how warehouses and huts start to thin out here, like the fishermen won’t go any further. 

In the distance, she sees it, the warehouse from her dream. There’s a light rain starting to fall, looking all misty and blurry in the fog. 

“Guys,” Orihime blinks, turning over her shoulder. She flicks off her flashlight. “I think this is it.”

“Orihime we can barely see through the fog here,” Tatsuki says, waving a hand in front of her eyes. “Are you sure you wanna go there alone?” 

“The more we talk to people, the more I get the feeling Kairi isn’t a vengeful spirit,” Orihime explains. “I think I should give this a shot.” She regards all three of her friends. “Please trust me, you guys.”

“We do,” Uryuu and Chad say immediately. 

Tatsuki sighs and unclasps the whistle she’s wearing around her neck. She ties it around Orihime instead. “Whistle thrice if you want us to stay clear, twice if you want us to come and once if you’re in trouble. Got it?”

Orihime brushes a thumb over the whistle. “Got it.” She nods determinedly, regarding the group. 

“We’ll be right here the whole time,” Uryuu promises. 

.

As Orihime gets closer and closer, she starts to feel Kairi’s presence. Despite the fog, Orihime knows she’s going to be at the end of the road. She wipes her palms on the surface of her sweatpants. She wants to regret this, but at the same time, she knows it’s important. Sometimes the universe sent out signs and she was just going to have to follow them.

As she strides further, she can feel the fog starting to thin. There’s that smell of lemon-y incense again, the feeling of smoke running up her spine. She can feel Kairi’s reiatsu, and can see her dark silhouette among all the smoke.

Orihime stops about six feet from Kairi. Like always, she stands absolutely still, in her robes. She’s only a few inches shorter than Orihime and up close, she looks a lot more human. Orihime feels her heart speed in her chest. Was this what Sora felt like, all those years ago?

“Inoue Orihime,” Kairi says softly, in that raspy voice from the dream. “You came.”

“I did.” Orihime smiles nervously, giving her a tiny wave. “You must have been waiting for me for a while, huh? I’m sorry it took so long for me to get here.”

“You were always surrounded,” Kairi says simply. Her lips don't move, as much as rub against each other. “You are, even now.” 

“I know,” Orihime says, turning over her shoulder. “My friends, they were worried for me. Worried that you were going to hurt me.” She takes a deep breath. “But you don’t want to hurt me, do you? You just want to talk.” It feels more like a negotiation than a confirmation, in the still air. 

Kairi, however, relaxes. “I just want to talk,” she repeats, almost sadly. 

“Then let's talk,” Orihime agrees. “I don’t mind. I just have one tiny request.”

Kairi waits, simply staring at her. 

“Do you mind if my friends come with us?” Orihime asks. “I know you were hesitant about approaching me with them around but they were the ones that helped me find you. They don’t mean any harm.”

Kairi pauses. “Very well,” she relents. “You may call them. Follow me into the warehouse when you see fit.” 

.

A few paces behind, Tatsuki, Chad and Uryuu start to get nervous. It’s been a while since Orihime’s gone further, but nothing’s come from it. Tatsuki can feel the flame of Orihime’s reiatsu, however, blazing firm and stable like the sun itself in the centre of her chest. 

“She’s okay,” Chad voices, like he’s reaching out to her too. 

“I can feel Kairi as well,” Uryuu notes. “They must be talking.”

“What on earth is taking them so long?” Tatsuki demands, wiping sweat down her pants. Taking down that Hollow had been exhilarating but the adrenaline had also started to wind her out. She isn’t used to fighting using spiritual energy, so she should have seen it coming, but it makes her jittery anyway. The only relief comes from the little ball of warmth Orihime emits, so Tatsuki anchors on to it for dear life. 

Behind them, there’s a light scuffling sound on the ground. Tatsuki turns around to see a black cat, slinking towards them, its dark figure almost camouflaged with the ground. It quickly swipes at Chad’s calf with a claw, forcing the boys to turn to it. 

“Yourichi?” Uryuu stammers. “What are you doing here?” 

Tatsuki’s about to laugh at Uryuu for expecting the cat to speak, but to her utter surprise, the cat does. Speak, that is. With its actual mouth. 

“I’m here because I saw your car exit the city, you fools,” Yoruichi snarls. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“We’re on guard,” Chad explains. “Orihime is talking to Kairi. The girl from her dreams.” 

“And you let her go by herself?”

“She’s fine,” Uryuu snaps. “We’ll go at the first sign of trouble.” 

"You're a cat," Tatsuki interrupts lamely, staring at the figure in awe. Yoruichi sits on hind legs, but her front legs are intertwined like she’s crossing her arms. 

"You're both idiots," she says sharply at the boys, ignoring Tatsuki. "Didn't we say we'll investigate this?" 

"Well it didn't look like you were taking us seriously and Orihime wanted to know about her dream," Uryuu says crossly. "Maybe if you didn't dismiss her all the time --"

"Oh don't you dare make this about me," Yoruichi claws at his pants. He dodges, standing behind Chad. "You're the ones who sent her off there to God-knows-what." 

"Uh, Mr. Cat," Tatsuki interrupts. "I don't think she's in any danger. I can feel her...reiatsu." 

"Who are you again? You're Ichigo's friend, right?" Yoruichi’s yellow eyes finally fix on her. 

Tatsuki feels her eyebrow twitch. She's about to yell at this cat when they hear a sharp whistle blow through the air. They all stop suddenly, peering into the foggy distance. Orihime’s reiatsu is still stable, flickering strongly. 

"That's one," Chad counts, with a finger. 

"One what?" The cat demands, but everyone shushes her. Seconds later, another one comes. 

They wait with bated breath, keeping their ears tuned even though the whistle is sharp enough to carry through the air. No more whistles come. 

"Looks like we got the green signal," Uryuu concludes. "Come on." 

Without a word, Uryuu and Chad dart forward into the fog. Tatsuki follows, feeling the cat tag along with them. This was going to be a long, if not incredibly weird night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made some [artwork](https://kazeshini-s.tumblr.com/post/623808944308158464/the-epic-highs-and-lows-of-ghost-hunting-read-on) to go along with this chapter! hope you're enjoying the story so far :)


	8. chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichigo's done a lot of weird things. Tonight, however. Tonight might just top the list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, to those of you following! I had some cleaning up and editing to do before I posted this and I didn't want to half-ass it because I love my story so much and it deserves its best version out there, so I hope this chapter is worth the wait. Thank you to everyone who's been reading, commenting, leaving kudos and enjoying so far! I'm having a lot of fun and I hope you are too :)

The inside of the warehouse is dark, the only light coming from an orange lamp in the middle of the room. 

The air is thick with the smell of incense, which Chad realizes is probably Kairi's reiatsu. Beside him, the group sits silently, regarding Orihime to take the lead. 

Orihime, though, is stunned. She sits in complete silence like she has no idea what to say. Uryuu takes the lead instead. 

"Um, Kairi," he says hesitantly. "What are you?" 

Kairi gives him an icy glare. They shiver.

"Interactions with the supernatural 101, never ask what you're dealing with _to the what you're dealing with,"_ Yoruichi mumbles from the corner of her mouth. She regards Kairi with a solemn look, crossing her arms. "What do you want with our Orihime?" 

Kairi juts her nose in the air stubbornly. "I shall speak only with Inoue Orihime." 

Yoruichi rolls her eyes. "Definitely a yokai, then." 

Kairi's eyes become sharp, a wild anger seeping into the edges. Orihime bites her lip. Maybe it's not such a good idea to piss off a spirit they've come this far to talk to. They've got a field trip to go collect worms at the park for biology tomorrow morning and she really wants to be alive to see it. 

"Kairi, I'm sorry, it's just kind of overwhelming for me," Orihime excuses, leaning forward. "You said you wanted to talk to me, so why don't you lead this conversation?" 

Kairi purses her lips. Then, to everyone's horror, she starts crying. Little black tears start to stream from the corner of her eyes, trailing down her powdery cheeks with a stain that rivalled Ulquiorra's. She wipes at them with the sleeve of her purple cloak. 

"Um," Tatsuki whispers into Orihime's ear. "Does this kind of stuff usually happen?" 

Orihime ignores her, in favor of reaching for Kairi's hand. She tries not to jolt at the frigid skin, which is in fact skin and not air. She smiles, tilting Kairi's chin up with her hand despite the trembling. "It's okay, we're here to help." 

"Don't make any such promises," Yoruichi warns suddenly, tightening her cat shoulders on high alert. "We don't want to make any accidental wordbound oaths." Kairi, however, just weeps -- little shrieks of noises that grate the inside of their skulls. They really are dreadful sounds, but Orihime doesn't point this out. She just lets her hand rest there. 

"Inoue Orihime," Kairi wails childishly, her lips warbling. "Only you share my grief. Only you know my loss." 

"What's wrong?" Orihime asks gently. 

"You know what it's like to lose your soul, don't you?" Kairi asks hoarsely. She lunges out of Orihime's grip and the act makes everyone stiffen, but turns out she only floats away to come right back and settle in front of them again. She stares at Orihime, a sad, blank look in her eyes. "You know what it's like to lose a sibling." 

Orihime sucks in a harsh breath. Behind her, Chad reaches out to squeeze her forearm comfortingly, but it does little to quell her rapid heartbeat.

"I do," she replies with a nod. "I lost Sora. You know that, don't you? You were the one who gave me my powers after all." 

Kairi stops her sniffling to regard Orihime strangely. "I'm nowhere as powerful to bestow such a thing upon you. What I did was put a seal on you to conceal your reiatsu." 

"A seal?" Uryuu asks. Kairi glares at him again.

"Reiatsu cloaking," Yorucihi explains grimly. "It's an art that takes a lot of practice for shinigami to master but I've heard of many mid-tier beings using it. It places a shadow on your reiatsu, making it practically impossible for anyone to seek you out." 

"Why did you use it on Orihime?" Chad asks, his deep voice carrying through the walls of the warehouse. 

Kairi stares at him like it's obvious. He shrugs. 

"Sora asked you to, didn't he?" Orihime asks quietly. "So my parents wouldn't find us." 

Kairi nods solemnly. "I specialize in creating a _seigan_ for souls marked by common blood." 

"Vows for siblings?" Uryuu muses to himself. He regards Orihime in curiosity. That must have either broken after her brother passed or it must have been shattered after Kurosaki got his powers. Either way, it's been broken for a while, so if her parents haven't yet come after her...

"What did you take in return?" Tatsuki demands instead. "Her brother's life?" 

Kairi sneers, a cold frown on her mouth. "You must choose better companionship, Inoue Orihime." Tatsuki flushes deeply, withdrawing into herself. Kairi regards the group with crossed arms. "A seigan is a spell of love. One who's desire to protect is eternal, he can take the oath with significant ease and pass on his protectorship to the object of his desire. All I did was bind that love to you. I asked nothing in return. It is not our nature to ask." 

"You seem to be asking for something now," Yoruichi points out, unconvinced. "You called her here. You want something from her." 

Kairi starts crying again, more tar puddles gathering around her eyes. She takes Orihime's hand pleadingly, the cold of it sending an electrifying shiver up her elbow. "My sister, Nami," whispers. "We were inseparable, like you and your brother. We lived on these waters with great harmony." 

"What happened?" Orihime whispers anxiously. 

"A dark force came and took her away months ago, to the other side of the water," Kairi explains sadly. "She's been Taken." 

"Possessed," Yoruichi says flatly. "What does that have to do with us, again?" 

"Inoue Orihime," Kairi says, raspy and begging. "Your brother, even in his youth, knew what it meant to love one with the desire to protect them. When he Turned, it broke your heart -- did it not?" 

Orihime squeezes her eyes shut, remembering Sora's Hollow. The insurmountable guilt that crashed her ribs after. "I loved him, I really did," she cries. "I never forgot him. I.." She exhales a shaky sob. _I'm the reason he Turned._

Tatsuki rubs her shoulder consolingly, enveloping her head in her shoulder. "We know, sweetheart." 

Yoruichi, however, slams a paw against the floor. "Hold on," she growls. "A lot of your story doesn't make sense." 

"Yoruichi --" Chad starts, but she cuts him off. 

"How does a yokai chance upon a kid and his little sister?" Yoruichi demands. "More so, how did the kid even know you? It's not like you run in the same social circles." 

Kairi turns away from Yoruichi with a frown. She regards Orihime instead. "My sister and I have lived here for eons," she explains. "We were revered, shrines were built in our name. It was only in the recent era of time that Humans began tearing down any monuments to our name, replacing it with their own structures and monuments." She sighs. "Your brother seemed to have a great knowledge of our rich history. He pleaded with me to seal your reiatsu and I obliged. I recognised that he was true of heart, an uncorrupted soul." 

"Did..did he tell you why my parents wanted to kill me?" Orihime asks, quietly. 

Kairi purses her lips solemnly. "I am not fully aware," she says, "though my best guess is that their motivations came from a place of envy." She waves a hand in the air, a twinkling blue light sparkling around her fingers. "It was my knowledge that they were well versed in the dark arts -- peddlers in thievery and sabotage." 

Chad frowns. "They wanted to steal her powers?" 

Yoruichi breaks in with a scoff. "There's no such thing as dark arts, just magic people bend to their own needs. Reiatsu-absorption and theft is a crime long outlawed by Soul Society. If Inoue's parents were up to something shady, it would have been on our radar." 

Kairi regards Yoruichi smugly. "Is that so? Then why did Sora Inoue tell us his desperate pleas to me were because the shinigami turned a blind eye to his complaints? Surely his disposition must have been, as you put it, _on your radar."_ She snaps her fingers and the blue light disappears. "I gave defense where the shinigami failed. All I ask in return is your help to bring my sister home."

They're all quiet for a moment, the only sounds coming from the waves outside. 

"Where's your sister now?" Tatsuki asks, finally her hand still firm on Orihime's shoulder. 

Kairi jerks her head westwards. "She's been Taken, on the other side of the ocean," she says gravely. "I feel her thrashing around. She's frail and helpless." She turns to Orihime. "It is not in our nature to ask, but you must know what it feels like. You must know. Please help me bring her back." 

Orihime gnaws her lip. "How?" 

"You must cleanse her." 

Everyone just stares at her blankly. Chad, however, points to Yoruichi. "Can she not just do a _konso_?"

Kairi scoffs. "The magic of shinigami is not sustainable for us," she explains. "We work better with those that are alive and endowed, like Inoue Orihime." She stares at Orihime expectantly. 

Orihime sighs shakily, then regards Kairi with a determined look. "Okay." 

"Okay?"

"I'll try to bring your sister back," Orihime promises with a stutter. 

"Hold on." Tatsuki stands up suddenly. "Time out." She yanks Orihime to her feet gently, beckoning the others to follow her into a corner. Kairi stares at them, but doesn't follow. 

Tatsuki turns on her heel to regard Orihime. "Correct me if I'm wrong but Kairi just implied that something's gone dark on the other side of the water, just like your brother, but you want to go there?" 

"I agree," Yoruichi says. They all look down at her. "We don't know what her ulterior motives are. For all we know, she could be baiting us into being a meal for whatever's on the other side. _She_ could be doing the very thing she accused your parents of." 

"Or," Orihime says slowly. "She could be telling the truth. Everything in her story checks out." 

"I agree with Orihime," Chad rumbles. "I think we should check it out." 

"If it's a trap --"

"We'll fight our way out of there," Uryuu cuts in, surprising the others. "We did come prepared for a fight, after all." 

Tatsuki sighs, rubbing her forehead. "If you're doing this out of guilt --"

"I'm not," Orihime says firmly. "Kairi's been on my trail for a long time. It's obvious she needs my help -- our help." She clasps Tatsuki's hand. "It's alright if you don't want to join me, but this is something I want to do." 

"Besides, if her sister," Uryuu frowns. "If Nami's turned, who's to say she won't attack Karakura in the future? We need to check this out if we're taking over Kurosaki's duties. Regardless of whether Kairi's telling the truth, there's something dangerous on the other side of the water. Don't you feel it?" 

It's true. There _was_ a thick wave of disturbance that came from the little cluster of islands on the horizon. 

Tatsuki shakes her head, resting her hand on Orihime's. "Where you go, I go. Whether tonight results in exorcism or ass-kicking, I'll be by your side with only minor complaining." 

Orihime grins, before nervously fixing her faze on the menacing flashes of lightning in the distance. 

_"I gave defense where the shinigami failed."_

She frowns. Whether she trusts Kairi or not, she doesn't doubt Sora's reasoning of her parents for even a second. She regards the group with newfound determination. "Let's do this."

____________

Right before the World War, Japan's Maritime Bureau thought it was a good idea to erect a lighthouse that doubled as a meteorological observation site on the abandoned islet of Okinotorishima. The intent was obvious -- the government wanted to utilize any and all land floating in the Phillipine Sea for research and military use. A typhoon, a tussle with the United States government, and a treaty later, all that's left of the islet are a few rocks and cliffs scrambled around in the ocean. With Onose leading into the Phillipine Sea, it's only a mere few nautical miles away from the mainland.

Uryuu knows this because it's the closest thing to historical relevance Karakura has in the grander scheme of world history. A sleeper town like this doesn't get a lot of action, so these were the things they held onto as part of the local lore. Little did he know, however, that the site is only a speedboat away and he, Ishida Uryuu, is going to be getting onto the said speedboat with his friends to exorcise a spirit. 

This is what he thinks historians mean when they call people participants in invisible history. No doubt what they do will change the scope of spiritual energy on historic lands, but to the average Karakura resident, the only thing of importance tonight will be reruns of the Don Kanonji show. 

As it should be, he thinks, as he watches his friends cluster around him. They're the only ones who can do this and they must, before it escalates into something the entire town will be affected by.

He reaches forward and examines the speedboat that Tatsuki has climbed into. It belongs to Kaho, who agreed to lend it if they could _stop the damn girl from crying_ \-- her words, not his. They also had to promise never to come here again, but it's not like Uryuu was growing too fond of the river and the swampy mud in the first place. 

In the distance, there's a thrum of power wading over from two rocks on the horizon. 

"So, I know you kids are all enthusiastic about helping this lonely spirit out," Yoruichi starts, from her place at his feet. "But do any of you have any idea how to perform a cleansing ritual?" 

"Nope!" Orihime says happily, clambering in and holding out a hand for Chad. "That's what we have you for, Yoruichi!" The plan so far is to go check out the island, hopefully subdue the threat and return in one piece. Not the best of plans, Uryuu thinks, given the astonishing lack of detail. 

Yoruichi scoffs. "And what would you have done without me?" 

Chad shrugs, dusting off his pants. "Winged it." 

Yoruichi does something that looks like the cat equivalent of a face palm -- the underside of her paw brushes her forehead and her eyes glow in judgement. "No wonder you're all Ichigo's friends." 

"Please, Yoruichi, don't slot me in with them," Uryuu pleads and Chad forcibly tugs him into a side hug that he can't shimmy out of. Orihime, seeing grounds for a group hug, swoops in from behind to make an Uryuu sandwich. His glasses tilt awkwardly on his nose and he pushes them back into place, a flush on his cheeks. He tries peeling himself off his two friends to no avail, sagging his shoulders in defeat. Chad and Orihime high-five over his head. 

"Well," Tatsuki says, jutting her thumb to Orihime and Chad. "Unlike these two, I actually know how to run a speedboat." She taps the hull for good measure. 

"That's the getting there part," Yoruichi agrees, slinking around the stern herself. "But cleansing is a lot more complex than you think, so really we should be proceeding with consultation from an expert." 

"Urahara?" Chad asks, gently separating from Uryuu. 

Yoruichi regards them. "Actually, I was thinking of Isshin. Urahara is no good at incantations." 

"Hold on," Tatsuki interrupts, holding a hand out. "Ichigo's dad?" Orihime has told her about him, theoretically, but never did it ever occur to Tatsuki she might have to see that side of him some day. 

"I thought he was more well versed in zanjutsu," Uryuu frowns. 

Yoruichi grins, baring little cat teeth from her mouth. "He's always bragging about his Healing 101 scores at the Academy, might as well put those rusty brains to use." 

Tatsuki shakes her head. "This night's getting a lot weirder than I thought." 

"Start the boat," Yoruichi instructs her. "We'll get on the phone with Isshin on the way." 

Tatsuki nods and scrambles off towards the front of the boat. Yoruichi eyes the rest of them expectantly. "What?" she asks casually. "He's expecting us anyway." 

"So you were discussing it the night I went to Ichigo's house!" Orihime exclaims victoriously. "I tried to follow you but it didn't work." 

Chad grins, remembering the birthday they still have to plan. Somewhere beneath them, the boat begins to shudder. Uryuu stumbles backwards and Chad steadies him. Uryuu nods at him gratefully.

"Chad's right," he adds, before turning to Yoruichi. "But wouldn't it be better if he was here in person?" They could use an extra hand if this was indeed a trap. 

Yoruichi shakes her head. "Isshin leaks like a bloody Shihouin water canal,” she explains. “We’ve already attracted Hollows, I can’t see us affording any more distractions here on out.” 

Uryuu raises his eyebrows at the comparison but doesn’t say anything. It does make sense, so they’ll have to improvise on this one. 

The boat starts to descend into the water, picking up speed. Tatsuki puts it on auto and rejoins them, placing one hand casually around Orihime’s shoulder. Orihime tugs her phone free from her sweatpants and unlocks it. “I can call him,” she suggests, questioningly at the group. 

“Please do,” Yoruichi instructs, making space in the middle for Orihime to place the phone. Orihime dials the number, then puts it on speaker. The phone vibrates dully on the wooden floor of the boat, while everyone sits in a circle around it. 

“Yo, Isshin,” Yoruichi says, the second he picks up. “Yoruichi here.” 

“Oh hey,” Isshin’s voice comes, all static-ky through the phone. “Why do you have Orihime’s phone? Is she okay?”

“I’m okay!” Orihime exclaims, leaning on her elbows. “We’re all here together.”

“Great,” he says. “Let me guess: this is regarding the thing you dragged onto my front door last Friday, isn’t it?”

Tatsuki glances at Orihime, who looks horrified. “I didn’t mean to!” she exclaims, Isshin’s joke going completely over her head. 

“He’s just joking, Orihime,” Chad says quietly, voicing Tatsuki’s thoughts out loud. Orihime grins sheepishly before settling back down.

_“Dad where’s the -- who are you talking to?”_

All of them widen their eyes. Tatsuki can almost hear Ichigo narrow his eyes all the way out here. 

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Yoruichi groans. “Isshin, get him out of there.”

“Oh, trust me that’s not going to be easy.” Isshin grumbles. They can hear his voice get lower as he turns his head away from the mic. “No one, son, go to bed.”

“Isshin, you stupid fuck, was that really the best answer you could come up with?” Yoruichi snarls. 

Tatsuki holds back a laugh. There’s something insanely funny about a cat calling Ichigo’s dad a ‘stupid fuck’ while they speedboat with said cat towards an island to rest a malevolent spirit. This all was just -- deliriously funny. Tatsuki’s so tired. She’s so nervous. She can’t hold it in any longer, so she lets out a snort. 

The problem with Tatsuki’s snorts is that they’re very contagious, so now Orihime’s laughing too, burying her face into Chad’s arm so Ichigo doesn’t hear them. It fails miserably, the little giggles not immune to the power of speaker mode. 

_“I know you’re talking to Yoruichi, you could have just said --”_

Everyone freezes when he suddenly stops talking. Orihime’s nails dig into Chad’s arm in anticipation. 

_“Dad, was that Orihime?”_

Orihime gasps, clamping her mouth shut. Uryuu shoves his entire fist into his mouth and bites down frustratedly. Chad pats him on the back, while looking on in horrified concern. 

“No, Ichigo, it was not,” they hear Isshin say, sounding like he’s aged a hundred-and-fifty years since Ichigo was born. He probably has. 

_“Like hell it wasn’t! I’d know her laugh from anywhere!”_

“Of all the times he chooses to be romantic, this is possibly the worst,” Uryuu mutters, slapping his forehead with a frown. “And that’s _including_ Las Noches.” 

“T-that’s not romantic!” Orihime says, looking positively alarmed. Tatsuki pats her back in a ‘there there’ motion and horridly feels another laugh coming on. This is such a disaster. When Ichigo finds out Orihime’s doing this, he’s going to get his powers back out of sheer panic. He’s going to _fly_ here and probably grow a tail or some shit and --

_“Was that Ishida? Why are you talking to Ishida and Orihime? Give me --”_

They hear a lot of scrambling and cussing and fighting around. Tatsuki’s pretty sure she hears Ichigo’s mom’s precious dinner plates go crashing at some point, when Isshin lets out a pained howl. There’s more cussing and scrambling. 

“Oh, I cannot take this anymore,” Yoruichi snaps. “Ichigo! Stop fighting your dad and shut up.”

There’s silence and heavy breathing on the other end. 

“Yoruichi,” Ichigo starts back up immediately. “Why the hell is my dad talking to Orihime and Ishida? Why are you there? Is someone in trouble? Is Orihime hurt?”

Orihime bites her lip. “I’m okay, Ichigo.”

Everyone settles back into silence now. 

“That’s good to hear,” Ichigo says softly. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

_“Oh, so you can talk to her with a modicum of respect but not to your own father who gave birth to you --”_

“Isshin,” Yoruichi says sternly. “Please. Just stop talking. I’m going to very quickly explain the situation to the kid and then you’re going to do what I called you to do, okay? We don’t have a lot of time and I want to send them home as soon as we’re done here.”

"...Okay. Sounds good.”

“Listen carefully, both of you," Yoruichi says authoritatively, in her leader cat pose. “Right now, we’re on the way to Okinotorishima. We’re heading there because Orihime’s a sweetheart who’s decided to do a favour to a spirit that helped her and her brother out when they were kids. I don’t have time to go into the details, but there’s a malevolent spirit there that she has to perform a cleansing spell on. Specifically, a chinkon.”

Isshin whistles. “That’s complicated, Yoruichi. Who else have you got with you?”

“The other kids,” Yoruichi explains. “Ishida, Chad and the Arisawa girl.”

_“Tatsuki’s there?”_

“Fuck you, Ichigo,” Tatsuki growls. Orihime squeezes her forearm placatingly, though her sharp nails digging into Tatsuki's bicep do pretty much the opposite. Tatsuki swats her away, so she clings onto Chad again, like before. 

“Okay, okay,” Isshin says. “A chinkon could work, if the others help her out. What do you need from us?”

“Isshin, you’ll have to walk her through it,” Yoruichi says gravely. “The rest of us are going to keep holding off the spirit until then.” 

There’s silence for a while, as Isshin seems to work out the details. The boat dances along the waves, in a silent, lulling motion.

“How strong is the spirit, Yoruichi?”

Tatsuki bites her lip. They’re not even in the vicinity of the island and she’s already feeling a throbbing headache that has nothing to do with fatigue. The others feel it too. The air is thick with disrest, with blinding hot rage. There’s waves of it, rippling towards them in warning. 

“It’s strong,” Yoruichi says quietly. “But you’re going to help us, right?”

“Of course.”

_“Dad, I wanna go there --”_

“Absolutely not --”

_“I won’t hear it! I’m not going to abandon Orihime like that.”_

“No one’s abandoning anyone, Kurosaki,” Uryuu snaps. “We’re all here with her. It’s not like you can do much, anyway.” 

_“Fuck you, Ishida.”_

“He didn’t mean it like that,” Chad defends quietly into the phone. “You know what he meant.”

Ichigo ignores him. _"Orihime, I still have a tiny bit of power left. I'm sure I could--"_

Orihime gasps, holding back a dry sob threatening to spill. She'd rather cut her own hand off than have him do that and she likes her hands very much. 

“Ichigo, listen,” Yoruichi interrupts. “The best thing you can do right now is to _stay put_. Talk to her through the phone, sure, keep her calm, but stay put. That’s an order from me _and_ your dad.”

“I’ll be fine, Ichigo,” Orihime insists. “I promise.” 

_“I’ll be here,”_ he promises back.

Tatsuki rolls her eyes. To all intents and purposes, it looked like Orihime got her wish granted after all. Ichigo just couldn’t stay out of things if he tried. 

“Guys,” Chad interrupts, turning over his shoulder to glance at the horizon. “We’re getting closer.” 

The boat hovers close to the edges of the island. They’re coming up on the cays now, so everyone falls into motion, scrambling to moor the boat. Everyone’s in such a frenzy that they forget to pick the phone up. Tatsuki shakes her head and reaches for it, before joining the others at the side of the boat. 

There’s a low tide but the air is thick with a suffocating reiatsu. Orihime clutches her chest, while the others fall to their knees as well. It _rains_ power, the sheer intensity of it coursing through like a heat wave. Orihime strips off her hoodie and tosses it into the boat. She’s only wearing a halter top underneath, but she immediately feels a lot less suffocated. The others imitate her, all but Yoruichi, who disappears behind a few rocks. When she comes back, she’s fully clothed in an orange-and-black getup, her hair shining a dark purple under the moonlight. She uses her _shunpo_ and flickers away to survey the land up close. 

The place is mostly submerged, but there’s two large rocks stretching out towards the sky in the distance. The ruins of a lighthouse remain scattered across a parallel cliff from where they’re standing. Everything shudders with the ferocity of the angry spirit. 

“Right,” Yoruichi says, returning with a flash. “I have a game plan but it’s going to require a little discussion.” She turns to everyone but Orihime and beckons them. “Lets go talk by the rocks. While we do this, Isshin, tell her what she has to do. We’ll meet back here before we start.” 

Tatsuki hands her the phone and they stalk off, stumbling through the rocks to a little arc by the water. 

Once they're off into the distance, Yoruichi regards the group. They all look so young. With their shirts off, they look flushed and thin, like children their age should be, unlike Ichigo, who was a lot more muscular. "I'm gonna be honest with you, I wish Kurosaki was here. We could really use his power." 

"We don't have Ichigo," Tatsuki points out flatly. "Besides, whatever he can do alone I'm sure the five of us can do together." 

"You're right," Yoruichi says. She likes this kid. "You a fast runner?" 

Tatsuki shrugs. "Pretty much." 

"Combat?" 

"She'll hold her own, Yoruichi," Uryuu cuts. "What's the plan here?" 

"The plan is risky and involves little discretion. You guys have to decide right now whether you're in or out, because once we start, we really can't pull you out." 

"We know the drill." Chad assures. Uryuu and Tatsuki nod. 

“Orihime, are you there?” Isshin asks gently. 

“Y-yes sir.”

“Please, just call me Isshin.” he says. She absolutely Will Not but she appreciates the sentiment. “Can you describe the landscape to me?”

“Well, there’s a lot of rocks,” Orihime says, feeling a little unhelpful, so she adds detail. “Um, there’s two giant rocks actually, shaped like triangles. Most of the reiatsu seems to be coming from this glowing orb floating there, in between the rocks.”

“What color is the orb?”

“Red? Dark red...maroon-ish, like, like a blood clot?” Orihime offers, feeling a little stupid for giving anatomy analogies to a doctor. “It looks like it’s bleeding into the sky, the sky around there is _really_ red.”

“Good job, Orihime,” Isshin replies, patiently. “How much water is there?”

“Lots,” Orihime answers. “There’s barely any land, just those two rocks and a cliff about a kilometre to my east? Most of the land is submerged.” She wriggles her toes in emphasis, but realizes they can’t see her. 

“And there’s water perpendicular to these two rocks right?” 

“Yes.”

“Get into the water, please. As accurately perpendicular to the orb as you can,” Isshin instructs. “I’m guessing there’s a low tide, so can you go up to your belly button?”

They wait, as Orihime wades a little further into the water. It's cold and jarring, but she settles into the depths anyway. Her abdomen is right above the water level, the waves tickling her belly. She looks straight ahead and positions herself directly in front of the orb. “I’m here.” The water becomes a little warmer. 

“How far is the orb?”

Orihime squints. “Um, maybe about the distance it takes from the clinic to the end of your street? I’m not sure how many kilometers that would be.”

“That’s far,” Isshin says and she can hear the frown in his voice. “Though that’s not really your problem. Yoruichi and the others will have to draw it out but you stay put. Don’t move from your spot. I’ll give you the rest of your instructions when they come back.”

“Okay.”

_“You’re doing great, Orihime,”_ Ichigo says quietly. _“So great.”_

She blushes, glad he can’t see her. “Thank you.” 

_“I’m sure you’re gonna be fine, I trust you, but I really wish I was there.”_

Orihime blinks, feeling her eyes get misty as she remembers every single adventure she’s had with him. The way his overbearing reiatsu became something familiar and soothing over the years. “I wish you were here too,” she says, in a small voice. She hears Ichigo draw a breath, like he wants to say more, but he doesn’t say it, probably because his dad is here too. 

She sees Yoruichi and the others come back and she quickly swallows, readying herself for what comes next. The air gets steadily thicker every passing minute, so she feels the urgency of the situation press into her. 

“Isshin, we’re back,” Yoruichi announces, lifting the phone from the tiny rock Orihime’s placed it on. “The plan is this: Chad and I are going to get up close and attack the thing from each side, drawing it out. Ishida and Arisawa are going to be a little farther, at the midway point between us and Orihime.”

“She’s given us a razor wire of some sort to bind the spirit,” Uryuu explains, twirling the razor between his fingers. “Once it comes to us, Arisawa’s going to smash the ground open and I’m going to use my ginto to pour my reiryoku into the ground.” 

“This is to force and propagate all the energy back to Orihime,” Yoruichi explains. “So she can use a combination of her powers and the cleansing ritual to purify the spirit.”

“Shun’O and Ayame,” Tatsuki says, cupping Orihime’s shoulders. “I think those two are the ones you’d need to heal, right?” 

Orihime nods nervously. 

“Yoruichi, that's a lot of power directed towards a single source, don’t you think?” Isshin asks. “It’s too much pressure to put on someone, both spiritually and metaphorically.”

"Dad, I'm going --" 

"Don't even think about it, Ichigo." There's more cussing and scrambling, but everyone tunes them out. 

Yoruichi kneels down and lifts Orihime’s chin in her hand. “I know what this sounds like,” she says. “And if you want to haul ass and get out of here, I’d be the first person to agree with you.” She glances back at Uryuu and Tatsuki. “But these are your friends’ reiatsu. You’ve felt them before, mingled with them before. It might be overwhelming at the beginning, but you _know_ them right? Not in a literal sense, but in a spiritual sense. They’re a part of your soul.” 

Orihime looks at Uryuu, _Uryuu_ who she goes to Sewing Club with, with whom she tackled seated officers in Soul Society to save Kuchiki Rukia with. The most awkward, yet genuinely compassionate nerd she’s known all her life. And Tatsuki...there was sometimes no telling where Orihime began and where Tatsuki ended. They were a single soul, hearts beating as one. Sora, Uryuu, Tatsuki, Chad, Rukia, Renji and Ichigo...they were a part of her soul. They were here with her, no matter in what form. 

“I want to do it,” Orihime says determinedly, nodding at them. “I’m going to do it.”

“ _Orihime, are you sure? I don’t like the sound of this.”_

“I’m going to do it,” Orihime repeats. “And when I’m done, we’re all going to stuff our faces with donuts.”

Uryuu smiles wryly. Tatsuki grins. 

“Sounds good to me,” Chad agrees, turning to the phone. “Ichigo?”

_“...Me too.”_

“That’s the spirit, kids,” Yoruichi says, standing up. “Orihime, call out your fairies.” 

Orihime nods, “Ayame, Shun’O!”

Her hair clips glint, and then Ayame and Shun’O flicker into view. They look excited, like parents at a football game. 

“You heard us, right?” Orihime surveys them.

“We’ll be with you the entire time,” Ayame beams. 

“We’ve got your back, go for it.” Shun’O adds. 

“This is where it gets real,” Yoruichi says, regarding the spire grimly. “Absolutely none of you let your guard down. Chad, I need you at full capacity. Ishida and Arisawa hold on to your ropes until it’s time to let go. Orihime, watch them and make sure you start the process only when the energy starts flowing to you. Isshin and Ichigo _stay by her side.”_

“Yes ma’am!” everyone chorused. 

Yoruichi and Chad take off first, darting towards the rocks. Tatsuki bends over and kisses Orihime on the forehead, and then she and Uryuu take off as well. 

“Okay, Orihime,” Isshin says quietly. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Stand with your legs apart, shoulder-width,” he instructs. “The way this ritual is going to work, is that it’s going to draw energy from your abdomen. That’s your core, so that’s where all your reiatsu should be.”

Orihime closes her eyes and begins to direct all her reiatsu to her abdomen. It feels runny and watery, but she feels it all float to her belly. She opens her eyes. Somewhere in the distance, a violent shudder shakes the ground. She can see Chad and Yoruichi both come apart from the sheer force of the orb. Yoruichi charges again, a few split seconds before Chad does. The air sparks with the quick flash of her _shunko_.

“Be on standby,” Isshin is saying. “Your job only begins once your friends start pushing the energy to you. Until then, stabilize yourself. Stay calm.”

She feels something shift. Something starts to peel off from the orb, but desperately tries to sink back into it. Chad hits it with an _el directo_ and Yoruichi almost immediately strikes it with her spheres, giving no time for the spirit to settle. A silhouette starts to rise, white and wispy. Chad goes again, angling his _la muerte_ towards it. A huge gust of reiatsu blasts towards Orihime, and she firmly digs her toes into the mushy floor. 

_“Orihime, what’s happening?!”_

She wheezes out a breath. “Chad and Yoruichi...are amazing...”

This time, the spirit disentangles itself from the orb completely, bursting into the air. It’s angry. It vibrates intensely, the energy crumbling a few rocks to Orihime’s left. 

Yoruichi keeps up an incredible pace with the spirit, entangling it with the razor wire. She draws in, leaps out, draws in, leaps out...in frenzied, but coordinated moves, effectively starting the binding process. Though the spirit is not very large, it thrashes around like a fish in a net. It takes the silhouette of a girl, the same size as Kaira. Nami, Orihime thinks, though she isn’t Nami yet. There’s a gray hue coloring her from head to toe. 

A few paces behind Chad and Yoruichi, Uryuu and Tatsuki quickly start pulling the rope, like they’re in a game of tug of war. 

“Anytime now,” Orihime murmurs, watching them carefully. 

The spirit lunges violently, and though it’s restricted by the wire, it sends Uryuu tumbling backwards. His back crashes into Tatsuki behind him, and they both fall back on the ground. 

"Oh dear," Ayame remarks, fanning her face. 

“Oh no!” Orihime shrieks, feeling herself move forward. 

“Stay put,” Shun’O orders, stopping her. “You will not be able to help if you move.” 

_“What’s happening?!”_

She hangs back. Luckily, despite the fall, Uryuu and Tatsuki still hold onto the wire desperately. They scramble to their feet and yank again, supported by Chad and Yoruichi who push it from the other side. 

“Is everything okay?” Isshin asks, and Orihime’s almost forgotten they were even here.

“Kind of,” she mutters distractedly. It looks like Yoruichi is yelling at them, and seconds later they drop the wire in sync. Tatsuki picks up her mace and swings it straight into the ground. 

“It’s coming!” Orihime announces, quickly getting into position. 

“Okay, this is what it’s going to feel like,” Ishhin starts hurriedly. She can barely make the words over the sound of the waves and rocks crashing and the white noise starting to heat her ears. “You know how on laundry day you have all your colors and your whites?”

_“Dad -- what?”_

“Uh-huh.” Orihime nods. Uryuu pulls out his ginto and pours out his reiryoku into the crevices and cracks made by Tatsuki that extend all the way to where Orihime is standing over the water. 

“While your fairies begin the healing,” Isshin says. “ _You_ have to separate the various reiatsu hurtling at you. Yes, distinguishing your friends’ reiatsu is important, but what’s more important is that you recognize and extract the disturbance from the spirit. By elimination you should be able to --”

The rest of his words get drowned out, because she feels the cannon of power strike her right in her abdomen. She shuts her eyes, sucking in a sharp breath. It’s heavy and intense, but once she allows her soul to parse through the others’, she starts feeling familiar again. There’s Chad -- the smell of lychee and timber. There’s Yoruichi -- smoke and plums. Uryuu -- cucumbers and lemongrass. Tatsuki -- honey and leather. There’s two scents of reiatsu left, dancing with each other. Elimination, like Isshin said. 

She feels Ayame and Shun’O’s glow bask over her, extricating the disturbance from the spirit. There’s a magnetism in the air, as the gray slowly starts to color. 

“It’s working,” she says quietly, relaxing her elbows. They ache from having held up her arms for so long. She can see the others coming to her, from the corner of her eyes. 

“The tough part is staying awake through the entire thing,” Isshin says. “This ritual is very draining.” She can hear some fumbling. “Ichigo, keep talking to her.”

_“What?”_

“She needs to stay conscious,” Isshin explains. “Keep her occupied while her fairies work.” 

_“Oh, okay. Hey, Orihime.”_

She smiles weakly. “Hi.”

_“Uh, so..uh, did I ever tell you about the fight Ishida and I got into before your sixteenth birthday?”_

Orihime blinks. It was just after they got back from Hueco Mundo and she has no recollection of those two weeks at all. Her brain's just completely blocked it out. “No,” she answers simply, deciding the rest would just worry Ichigo more than he already is. 

_"Well, the three of us wanted to make a study table for you after your last one broke,_ " Ichigo says, his voice quiet and calm over the water and the hum of her powers. " _So we sat down to work on it, except none of us actually had any idea how to read the instructions because they were in German._ "

Tatsuki, Chad and Uryuu come up behind her and sit down on the rocks now. They all look tired, but they seem content to just sit there and listen to Ichigo. Their shirts have all been discarded, and their pants are tattered, like they’ve been through a shredder but they look calm. At peace, watching Orihime work. 

" _Ishida goes_ , 'I'll have you know, Kurosaki, I've read a book in German, I know what I'm doing'" Ichigo says, doing a bad Uryuu impression. " _So naturally I ignored him and we started to fight over how to go about it_." 

Uryuu scoffs, but there's a small smile on his face that she’s sure he’ll deny later. 

Orihime feels her eyes starting to get tired. She desperately widens them. "What happened next?" she urges. 

_"We broke it, I think,"_ Ichigo says. _"No, actually, we made it, but one of the legs was shorter than the other. Ishida and I got so mad we refused to talk to each other at all. Chad had to, like, mediate and shit."_

"It's true," Chad intones. "It was not a good time for me." 

Orihime laughs. The movement radiates around her, making the halo of her powers glow brighter. The spirit stops struggling altogether, colors starting to seep in darker. 

_"Anyway, the point is--"_

"There was a point to this story?" Tatsuki asks dryly, rubbing her eyes. 

_"Shut up. The point is, when we came over to give it to you, we were both super nervous about how you'd react, but you just looked so damn happy that we collaborated over something for you that you didn't even notice the difference in the legs."_

Oh she noticed. She just acted like she hadn't because Chad texted her in advance and told her what happened. She doesn't say this, though, because she thinks it’s sweet. It's definitely an odd choice for a story, but it's nice of him to try for her.

"Guys are so stupid," Tatsuki yawns. 

"You'll never find one if you dent the frailty of the male ego," Yoruichi says absently, coming up from behind them. "In the words of Great Aunt Shihouin." 

"I'm a lesbian." 

"I think she was too." 

Yoruichi and Tatsuki grin at each other, before turning back to the group. 

There's a sudden shift in the air. The thick grey overcoat hanging over the spirit starts to disintegrate, revealing the figure of a girl. She's wearing an azure cloak, her pale face highlighted by her blue lips. She looks like Kairi, but in blue. Twins. Of course they’re twins, Orihime thinks belatedly. It all makes sense now in her slow, fuzzy brain. 

"It worked!" Yoruichi marvels. She bends, getting on eye level with the girl. "Hi, are you Nami?" 

The girl nods, looking straight at Orihime in curiosity. “You saved me,” she says quietly. The statement settles nicely in Orihime’s spine. She _saved_ her. She smiles, feeling the efforts of all their work coming together for a good cause. There was no soul-devouring battle after all. 

“Yeah, well make it upto her by going back to your sister,” Yoruichi orders. “She’s worried there, on the other side of the water.” 

Orihime's knees suddenly feel like jelly, the last of her energy departing her. She feels herself keeling over, falling backwards into the water with a loud splash. Her phone goes flying somewhere and she can hear muffled voices from below the water.

"Orihime!" 

_"Orihime?"_

Her eyes close.


	9. chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of everything, Orihime pays Shun'O a little visit. The Kurosaki Clinic receives a few fated visitors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for uploading another chapter so early other than that I was super proud of my world-building here and wanted it out there lmao. I haven't replied to a few comments, but please know I'm super grateful to everyone who's liked this work so far.

Ayame and Shun’O swoop in immediately. 

"She's not unconscious, don't worry," Ayame reassures loudly, waving her arms at everyone while Shun’O examines her. "Just very drained." 

Chad, Uryuu and Tatsuki immediately come over to help her out of the water, but Shun'O blocks them. "You're all tired, don't exert yourselves," they say. "I'll take her back to my inner house and tend to her myself." 

"Can you do that?" Uryuu asks curiously. 

"We can try," Ayame says. "She's only done this once with Baigon but things were alright then." 

Shun'O considers her slumped form in the water. "Ayame, I'll need my size for this," they say. 

Ayame nods, and then disappears with a tiny 'pop.' It's a little difficult to take form when Orihime is so weak, but Shun'O manages it, getting to their full size. They’re in a full blown, red, nutcracker-like suit, the sleeves extending all the way to their pale hands. 

They sink to the ground and lift Orihime up, one arm around her shoulder. They hook the other one around her waist, before pulling her entire body weight into their arms. She murmurs something absently into Shun'O's chest. 

"Yes dear," Shun'O agrees, paying no heed to how everyone was watching them in awe. They pluck Orihime's hair pins from her hair and extend a hand forward to Chad. "Would you mind holding onto these for her until she comes back?" 

Chad obliges, carefully pinning it to his collar. 

"Do make sure you don't lose it, because Orihime will apparate where the pins are," Shun'O explains, turning on their heel. "Thank you all for your help. I'll be taking her now." 

They disappear seconds later, taking Orihime with them. 

"Well he was awfully nice." Yoruichi remarks. Sometime during the commotion, Orihime's phone seems to have died of a low battery, so Tatsuki picks it up and pockets it. Ichigo’s probably worried sick somewhere, having been cut off halfway but serves him right for keeping _her_ worried all those days he went running around, she thinks, a little selfishly. 

In the air hangs a cool residue of a powerful spirit now calmed. Nami watches the space where Orihime once stood, curiously. “What happened?” she asks softly. 

Tatsuki huffs. “Your sister sent us out here to save you,” she explains, flexing her arms. “Looks to me like one pair of siblings decided to help another, that’s all.” There were still some unanswered questions Tatsuki had, but for now she’s just glad she’s alive. She doesn’t know how the others do this so often with little fear or regard over the fact that they may return home tomorrow, the next year, or never at all. It’s not a feeling she likes in the slightest. 

“Oh, for crying out loud Kurosaki, we’re alive,” Uryuu barks, snapping into his own phone. Tatsuki turns over her shoulder. Ichigo must have called Uryuu’s phone after Orihime’s died. “It never occurred to me how much mother-henning you do until now.”

Ichigo says something on the other end that makes Uryuu’s frown pronounced. “Of course I did. Need I remind you that she’s my friend too or have you forgotten that in your unrealistic assumption that you’re the only soul in all three worlds who wishes to protect her?”

A pause. A few strings of words mumble together that Tatsuki can’t really hear. 

Ishida snorts. “Of course.” He immediately hangs up after, cutting off whatever Ichigo was about to say. 

Tatsuki rolls her eyes at Chad, who shakes his head at the bickering pair. Sometime during the commotion, Nami flickers out of sight, presumably to reunite with Kairi. Tatsuki exhales in relief, hoping Orihime would join them soon enough. 

"Brilliant work everyone," Yoruichi comments, wiping off the sweat from her forehead. "Let's head home." 

.

Somewhere in the back of Orihime’s mind, she hears a train rattle. It’s a churning, chugging motion that slithers over the rails. The whistling of metal nearly lulls her into a nice, deep sleep. The kind where she’d later wake up and wonder what year it is. A peaceful, beautiful sleep she hasn’t gotten in a while…since Hueco Mundo...

She jolts awake suddenly. Why was she on a train?

She rubs her head gingerly, blinking her eyes open. Her throat is dry and her body is sore, but the lights all around her are soft and glowy, careful not to blind her. She’s safe. She doesn’t know how she knows that, but she is. 

Orihime gently runs her hand along her neck and regards her surroundings. Firstly, she _is_ on a train. There’s a rich, oriental carpet running beneath her, stretching all the way to the front dome. It’s soft and patterned a creamy maroon, coordinating neatly with the heavy oak walls. Every few metres, there’s old-fashioned lamps hanging from their posts. 

Suddenly, she feels very self-conscious. She looks around to see if there are any others on this train, but it’s empty. In fact, where the cabins and booths are supposed to be, there’s just long...windows? From her place on the floor, she crawls over to get a better look. 

Sure enough, there are several windows running parallel to each other on the train. When she leans over to see what they’re overlooking, she lets out a gasp. They’re not on the ground! She’s not even sure if they’re on _Earth_ , because all around her are twinkling stars and comets and a deep, dark blue sky. Underneath, the monorail runs on some kind of white beam of light, as opposed to regular rails. 

“Ah, I see you’re awake,” Shun’O remarks from behind Orihime. When she whirls over her shoulder to look at them, they’re beaming down at her. They’ve let their hair down, as opposed to the short blonde ponytail they usually have draped across the crown of their head. “Good to see your senses have finally returned. I was getting a little worried.” They run a few fingers through the short locks, looking nothing short of incredible and elegant. 

“We’re in your inner world, aren’t we?” she marvels, even though her voice is raspy and croaky. She looks over the window again, the amazement and shock finally sinking in enough for her to make out the details. Sure enough, she’s on a train in _space_ , but to make things an infinite times better, they’re floating past weird-looking planets that she’s definitely wished were real all her life. 

“Marshmallow Mile!” she exclaims, forgetting herself as she excitedly points to a belt of stars made of tiny marshmallows in different colors. They swirl around and circle each other, riding a wave of dust. She still has her first-grade drawing of this somewhere. This insane, carefully crafted galaxy that _she_ came up with. 

“Indeed,” Shun’O says, coming up behind her with a trolley. “If we’re lucky, we might cross Comet Cotton Candy soon enough.” Overhead, there’s a glowing white sign that has upcoming stops plastered across them. They all have strange names, like _Loopy Lunar_ and _Dizzy Dimension_ , but sure enough _Comet Cotton Candy_ is the next dot on the little green line. 

Orihime sucks in a breath, staring at Shun’O with a crazed, dreamy look in her eyes. “You’re _kidding_.”

“Am not,” they cluck with a fond head shake, reaching out for a flowery china cup to pour out some tea. “Though I will say, it can be a little tricky to navigate the _Six-Wing Express_ with all this debris.” They wave one hand around them, the other still holding onto the tea cup.

Orihime sighs happily, content to watch the constellations and little meteors pass by. Shun’O comes by her side and sits down, so they’re both facing the vast window. Outside, little meteorites ‘thunk’ against the metal, before dancing away in soaring floats. Some of them are dirt and gray, like actual meteorites, but others are funky shades of pink and blue and purple. 

“Here you go,” Shun'O says gently, nudging her. “Drink. It’ll help you feel better.”

“What is it?” she asks, taking a mild sip. It tastes like milk and something sweet, the liquid charging through her body in energized bursts. 

“Reiatsu reserves,” Shun’O explains, resting their elbows on knees and watching the scenery with a wistful look. “Healers like you often expend a lot of energy, so we keep reserves in case of a severe depletion. The ritual pulled a lot out of you, but at least now I’m hoping you’ll be able to sleep.” They watched her with a slight head shake. “I truly cannot believe the yokai would use dreams as a medium to communicate. Do they not know how bumpy it gets in here when you’re unsettled?” They huff, tugging at their hair. Orihime giggles. 

As she downs the cup further, she feels her own reiatsu float back into her body in waves, right from her toes to her fingertips. 

“Thank you,” she murmurs, feeling a little unsettled once the memories come flooding back to her as well. She hopes her friends are alright out there, but she also can’t help but think about Sora. Her parents. Everything. 

She squeezes her eyes shut painfully, despite the beautiful view around them. When she opens them, Shun’O is still quiet, the same position as they were before. “Sora didn’t just protect me from abuse,” she whispers, drawing her knees up to her chest. “He protected me from losing my spiritual energy.” _From being murdered, essentially._

“It is a brother’s way,” they agree, with a tilting nod. “The seal Kairi put on you must have been pretty effective if it lasted until Kurosaki Ichigo inadvertently shattered it.”

Orihime regards him with a sigh. “Are we even sure that’s what happened anymore? Everything in my life feels like such a lie.”

Shun’O smiles, taking her hand in theirs. “I can’t tell you where we came from or why we are the way we are,” they say. “But I _can_ tell you with certainty we were born after Kurosaki Ichigo’s powers unsealed you. All of us except Baigon, obviously.”

Orihime settles her head on her knee, feeling deflated. “He must have felt so lonely, being dormant all those years I had the seal on.” They could have been friends. She could have trained a lot earlier and protected her friends from danger. Maybe she and Ichigo would have gotten closer a lot earlier too...

Shun’O rubs her fingers lightly, urging them to curl around her tea cup again. She shoots them a sheepish grin, before drinking some more tea. 

They sigh, rubbing at their chin thoughtfully. “I’d like to think Baigon had time to grieve for your brother,” they say, with a sad smile. “I’m sure they must have discussed it in advance.” She pictures Sora signing with Baigon, telling him he’d probably never see the light of day again if Sora died. Neither of them must have ever anticipated Orihime growing into powers of her own. Of course they didn’t; they were good planners, but even they couldn’t see the future. In the event that Baigon did break out one day, Sora must have assumed it would be because her parents found her and activated her fight-or-flight. How wrong he’d been, in that regard. Baigon had faithfully shielded her, nonetheless, carrying out Sora’s wishes to a T. 

Orihime hiccups lightly, feeling tears crowd around her eyes. “Sora did so much for me,” she whimpers, wiping her nose with a finger. “And I never knew. He died and I f-forgot about him. I stopped looking to him for protection and he turned into a Hollow. Because I forgot him.” She breaks out into sobs, collapsing her face into her hands. She was so selfish. So, so selfish and --

Shun’O’s hand curls around her neck comfortingly. “Hush, hush,” they say. “Why must you shoulder the blame for everything all the time?”

“It’s my fault he turned,” Orihime says in a small voice, averting their eyes. “I have to take the blame.”

Shun’O shakes their head. “My love, you were so young,” they say softly. “You had no idea what you were doing, just trying to survive one day after another. You had no one, and then you had friends. You had Arisawa Tatsuki and then Kurosaki Ichigo. You had reasons to smile, companionship...the most beautiful things. Why must we taint them with guilt and regret?”

“Because Sora needed me,” she cries with a pout. “He was there when I needed him, but I wasn’t there when he needed me.”

“And how could you be?” Shun’O argues. “The seal _he put_ didn’t allow you to tap into your spiritual energy. You couldn’t see him -- yes, that was a side-effect, but it was very much a side-effect of what _he_ did for you, my dear.”

Orihime wipes at her eyes hastily, saying nothing. They pat her head consolingly. 

“Real relationships have no faults,” Shun’O continues, gazing out into the abyss. “Your brother was young. He was as dependent on you as you were on him. You were the only love in his life, it’s only natural he felt resentment at fate for tearing you two apart. I’m sure had he not sealed you, he would have said goodbye to you as a ghost and passed over in peace.”

“But I couldn’t see him, and that hurt him,” Orihime finishes. “It hurt him because he did what he did to protect me, but in the end we-we couldn’t be together in his last moments.” _Because of our parents_. 

Her eyes spring with more tears, so she sets aside her cup and buries her head in their shoulder. They rub her shoulders and arms, accepting her tears and snot patiently. She withdraws, shaking her head. Her eyes shine in newfound fear and determination as she regards Shun’O again. “Do you think my parents will come looking for me?” 

They frown. “I’m not too sure your parents are alive, Orihime. Your seal has been broken for two years now. They should have been able to find you and finish what they started but they didn't.” 

She sighs shakily. She doesn’t know how to _feel_ and everything’s numb. 

“Now, I’m not going to allow you to drain yourself any further,” Shun’O reprimands, pouring more tea into her cup. “Either you will engage in a riveting conversation with me about space while you drink, or you will drink in silence. No more of this emotional talk, it’s tiring us both.”

“Okay.” Orihime laughs, turning back to the window. They sit in silence for a few minutes while she drinks her tea and watches her surroundings. It _is_ truly beautiful here, exactly how she imagined space to be. She wants to ask Shun’O if there are any aliens in here, but a flash of twinkling lights in the near distance catches her eyes. She narrows them, leaning forward. 

“Recognize that?” Shun’O asks. “It’s a surprisingly real constellation in this myriad of made-up elements.”

“It’s Vega,” she says in awe, with a tiny gasp. She and Sora went star-watching sometimes and he’d taught her how to recognize the fairytale star she’d been named after. She took Tatsuki several times after, too, but she hasn’t done any star-gazing in the last few years. The sight of the familiar star makes her belly flutter in excitement. She fogs the glass with her breath and traces patterns, trying to complete the constellation with muscle memory.

Shun’O chuckles, guiding their own finger to the opposite end and dragging it across. “There’s Cygnus,” they remark, leaning over. “Deneb, aaaand…” They dramatically collide the tip of their finger with Orihime’s. “Altair.” 

Orihime laughs in shaky glee. “They’re together at last. It’s beautiful!” 

“Indeed,” Shun’O remarks, settling back onto their palms. They watch the scene pass slowly, as the monorail plunges into further territory. For a while, neither of them say anything. Then, Shun’O turns to her. “Eventually, you'll have to visit the others and sharpen your skills. In the worst case scenario, Orihime, we need to be ready.”

Orihime feels her heart drop heavily, remembering their previous conversation. She nods with a grim smile. “We will.”

Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Shun’O lets her squeal and guffaw as they come up on Comet Cotton Candy.

_________

Ichigo doesn’t know why everyone comes back to his house, but they do. All of them except Yoruichi, that is. Inside his living room, there’s a flurry of movement, not unlike whenever they have an accident victim at the clinic. Ichigo and his sisters have been ordered to bring fluffy towels and cups of hot cocoa for all his friends, because they seem to have lost their clothes during the ritual. They’re all sitting in the hall, huddled and tired when he comes upto them with towels.

“When do you think Orihime’s coming back?” he asks, handing them all their towels. Yuzu assumes the role of rubbing Chad’s head with it, berating him for going into the ocean without appropriate swimwear. He tells her he didn’t think they’d be getting into the water, which is the most Chad thing ever. 

“You could at least act like you care about the rest of us, you know,” Tatsuki says, wringing her arms around. Her hands look red and sore from all the tugging, but there’s no serious injuries or bleeding among the three of them. This comes to Ichigo as kind of a surprise, because he doesn’t remember a single fight he’s walked away from without bleeding. 

“I can see for myself that you’re okay,” Ichigo points out. “I don’t know _where_ she is.” 

“We told you, she’s in Shun’O inner world,” Uryuu snaps, as Karin brings around a tray of hot cocoa. “Catch up, Kurosaki.” 

“I know that, loudmouth,” Ichigo retorts. “I just wanna know how it works. Is it like my inner world?” He hopes not. He's not too fond of what it's like. 

They all glare at him, even Yuzu, which he supposes is fair. They look very tired and very done with everyone’s shit. When Chad asks if he can use the washroom, Ichigo almost gratefully accompanies him down the hall. 

“Mind holding onto this?” Chad asks, handing him Orihime’s hair pins. “I’ll be back.” 

Ichigo takes it and leans against the bathroom wall. He’s barely even made contact with the surface when someone calls his name.

“Ichigo! Go get me my phone from upstairs, will you?” he hears his dad say. 

He sighs and bolts upstairs, taking two at a time. He’s never liked chaos, but at least everyone’s okay. Even if they did very much go behind his back and do all of this, he doesn’t think he would have been much help there anyway. This all seemed like a battle of brains and investigation when all he had to offer was strength. 

Of course, he’s glad he got to support Orihime. He can only hope she’s doing okay in there, wherever _there_ is. He rubs at the base of his neck, feeling a slight sting of pain from when his dad was holding him back. How the man could calmly restrain him while also giving exorcism tutorials on the phone was a mystery, but he'd done it, the goat-chin bastard. 

By the time Ichigo retrieves his dad’s phone and comes back downstairs, Uryuu, Tatsuki and Chad are out cold on the floor. They’re all slumped into each other, in odd and uncomfortable angles and Chad’s already started snoring. There’s just one big Pile of Friends on his living room floor and the sight of it makes him smile. He reaches out and throws one big blanket over their collective bodies. 

“Dear, dear,” Isshin tuts, watching them with a tired look on his face. “I’m going to have to make some calls to the parents, aren’t I? Ryuken and Erika aren’t going to be pleased at all.” He fumbles around with his phone and then glances at Ichigo. “Does Chad have someone I can call?”

“I’ll text his roommates,” Ichigo informs. Chad’s roommate’s jeep is parked outside the clinic and Ichigo definitely wants a ride in the morning. How long had he been hiding a beauty like that? There’s so much adventure potential in that bad boy, Ichigo wants in. 

Isshin walks back to his study, his placating voice carrying through the walls of the house. Yuzu and Karin step over his friends and giggle at the way they’re lying down, taking plenty of pictures on Ichigo’s phone. 

“Oi!’ he whisper-shouts. “Let them rest! Get out of there and give me my phone.” 

Karin walks up to him, holding towels in her hand and his phone in the other. Yuzu takes charge of the half empty cocoa cups.

"This is weirder than the time you had Rukia in your closet, you know," Karin says, watching the heap with him. Ichigo thinks back to December, the last time she was ever in there. 

"I know." 

"Where's Orihime?" Karin asks, looking at Ichigo curiously. "Dad said she was with them. Did she go home or something?" 

Ichigo's about to answer when Yuzu calls her from the kitchen. Karin darts off without waiting for an answer. 

Ichigo decides to go sit by his friends for a while and wait for Orihime. There was no telling when she'd be back, but he wasn't in the mood to sleep yet and he still had the task of texting Chad's roommates. He sinks into the couch, watching idly. Orihime's pins shine brightly in one hand, so he spins it between his fingers. He wonders if an earthquake will happen there if he shakes the pins. 

He can't imagine what it must be like for her, finding something like that out about her brother and her parents. His fist clenches at the thought of Orihime’s parents coming back some day to steal her powers again. Like hell he’d let that happen. He doesn’t care if he doesn’t have zangetsu, he’ll still fight. He relaxes a little, realizing he’s gripping the pins too tight. He hopes it isn’t too overwhelming for her, but knowing Orihime, she should be fine. She has the adaptability of a cockroach, which sounds unflattering but he really means it as a compliment. 

He swipes through the pictures on his phone with a smile. It feels great, just being here with his dumb friends. There's definitely going to be a lot of ear-grating shouting and confusion in the morning -- which he isn't looking forward to -- but for now he enjoys the silence. 

Suddenly, there's a tiny noise in the air, like a bubble wrap bursting. 

Then, before he knows it, there's an auburn lump of weight in his arms sprawled across his lap. He looks down in confusion. No, it isn't a lump of weight, it's _Orihime_. 

She seems dazed as well, clutching her head. She's in a halter top and _sweatpants_ of all things, the fabric rubbing softly against his thighs as she sits right on top of him, her feet on the couch beside him. When she registers Ichigo, however, her eyes go wide and she withdraws her hand from his chest. 

"What the hell," he murmurs, vaguely realizing that one of his hands is on her hip, where the pins were. He tightens his grip to make sure she doesn't fall backwards. Suddenly, something dawns on him. "Don't scream," he warns quietly, jerking his head to the Pile of Sleeping Friends. 

She glances down at them and slaps a hand against her mouth. "Sorry," she whispers, looking back at him. She looks really cute, in her sleep-ready clothes and her hair cascading all the way down to her shoulders. It's crazy how she landed on him, but his thighs don't hurt at all. It's like a soft bag of pillows, or feathers, or maybe cotton candy…

"You're hurt," Orihime points out, mildly panicked. 

He follows her gaze down to the column of his throat and scowls. "Don't even think about it," he reprimands, swatting her already spread hands, no doubt ready to heal him. 

She pouts, the corners of her bottom lip sinking. "It looks like it hurts." 

He snorts. "You've seen me go through worse." 

Orihime shakes her head. "No wound is too small. Especially when it comes to you." She crosses her arms adamantly with a frown, the action nearly knocking her off his thighs. He quickly tightens his grip. 

_Especially when it comes to you._ He doesn't know what that means but it makes his ears burn. They stare at each other blankly. 

"Um, can I get off you?" she asks meekly, her face light pink all over. 

Oh. _Oh_. "Shit, yeah," he mutters, releasing her immediately. His own face feels like it's on fire. "I'm sorry." 

She waves her hand dismissively, clutching her throat like she's too embarrassed to speak. She leaps off his lap and stands on the floor, regarding her surroundings. "We're in your house," she announces. 

"Yeah. Are you okay?" 

"Uh-huh!" she exclaims, beaming happily. She nearly trips on Chad with the movement. She soldiers on without a pause. "Shun'O healed me and gave me some nice tea so now I feel really energetic and well rested." She looks it, too, so he sags his shoulders in relief. 

Ichigo smiles. "That's great to hear. I'm glad you're back." He eyes their friends, still sleeping, and he stands up. "We should get out of here, though. Come on, you can crash here tonight." 

"Oh, I couldn't do that." Orihime says, following him. They stand in the hallway, Ichigo leaning on the wall, Orihime opposite him. "I think I'll just walk home." 

"Orihime, it's eleven in the night," Ichigo says, staring at her blankly. "Besides, everyone's sleeping here and I really don't feel like walking all the way to your side of town."

She scowls, though it's more of a fiercer pout than anything else. "You wouldn't have to walk me back, I'm a big girl," she says, flexing her bare arm. "I do cleansing rituals now, did you know?" 

Ichigo grins. "Oh I know. You nearly gave me a heart attack," he says, then adds softly. "My dad said you did great." 

She flushes, sweeping her hair self-consciously behind her ear. "I had a lot of help." 

Initially he thinks she's just talking about Chad and the others, but then there's this soft look in her eyes that seems pointed at him too and oh. Oh. Why is he so slow? He opens his mouth to speak, but his dad comes back downstairs. 

"The girl of the hour!" Isshin booms. "Welcome back, Orihime." 

"Thanks for all your help," she bows. 

"It was nothing," Isshin says smugly. He looks between Orihime and Ichigo and winks. "You should sleep here tonight." 

A vein throbs in Ichigo' neck. 

"The living room is full," Orihime excuses sheepishly, Isshin's words going over her head. "I really don't mind walking back, Shun'O healed me really well." 

Ishhin towers over her. "I do not doubt your abilities but if I let you walk home at this hour I would never be able to look at myself in the mirror ever again," he warns. "You don't want this handsome old man to deny himself of such pleasures, do you?" 

Ichigo yanks him by the shoulder and pushes him away. "Don't put her on the spot like that, she doesn't have the heart to call you ugly." 

Orihime giggles, covering her mouth in glee. Isshin dramatically stumbles a few feet backwards and begins his tireless charade about 'ungrateful sons' and whatnot. Ichigo rolls his eyes, before turning back to Orihime. 

"Anyway," he says, hoping the next part comes off as casual as he means it to be. "You can come sleep in my room." 

Orihime looks like he's just told her she can have his zanpakuto. She could, if she wanted it. If he had it on him, he thinks with a tiny pang of sadness. Her mouth opens, then shuts. Then opens again, but no words come out. She stares at Isshin in horror, like she's expecting him to step in. 

"Keep the door open," is all Isshin says, with a wink, before he walks away. God, Ichigo hates those winks. The last thing he wants to do is seem like a creep. Orihime gets enough of those and he doesn't want to be slotted in with the likes of them. It's not like he's leaping at the opportunity to sleep in the same room as one of his closest and most cherished friends but it shouldn't be this big of a deal. She's seen him at his worst, he's seen her at her lowest -- what's sleeping going to do to change that? Their spare room is cluttered with shit they never bothered to clear out, it's not like he hasn't considered it. 

"Go on upstairs," he says, jerking his head in the vague direction of his room. "I'll get us some extra pillows." Then, he realizes something. "Uh, watch out for Kon. He gets excited." That was a heavy understatement but Ichigo would kick him out soon enough. 

Orihime stands still. "Ichigo," she whispers looking down at her feet. "You don't have to do this if it makes you uncomfortable." 

Ichigo puts his hand on her shoulder gently. "I know," he says. "But I'm tired and you're tired and we're close friends, so it shouldn't be a problem, right? Let me know if it is, and I'll walk you home, I don't mind." He does mind, but he's not a jerk. He's not gonna hold anything against her for having reservations. 

"I'll go upstairs," she says, not meeting his eyes. Did she always blush this much around him or was this a situational thing? "Do you need me to grab anything for you on the way?" 

He pauses to scratch his head. "Nah, I'm good," he says finally, with a small smile. "See ya there." 

She goes up the stairs and he heads to the laundry room to look for extra pillows. This is kind of crazy but it's also kind of not. He decides not to let himself over think it because Orihime doesn't deserve that.

.

When he clambers back upstairs, Yuzu and Karin are sitting on the floor with Orihime. 

"I thought you guys were asleep." He frowns. He steps around them and goes hunting for Kon. There's a few hiding spots he likes, so it shouldn't be too hard. 

"We saw Orihime here so we decided to stop by," Karin says. "I can't believe Dad is letting you have a giant sleepover on a school night." 

Under the bed...in his drawers...in the closet. 

"It's not like we planned it," Ichigo says distractedly. Under the chair...nope. He yanks aside the curtain and sees Kon there, hanging on tightly. He grabs the toy and tosses it out of the window, before latching it tightly shut. There's a distant shriek of cusses that Ichigo drowns out by drawing the curtains to a close. 

"I'm sorry for all the trouble," Orihime murmurs, looking positively downcast. 

Ichigo shakes his head. "Rukia slept in the closet, you know?" he says to her, sinking into his study chair. "It's not that odd for you to be here." 

Karin raises her eyebrows at him, but doesn't say anything. Orihime watches her nails, instead of looking at him, which might be a good thing because now that they're actually here, it feels kinda _quiet_. 

"Is that where you're stationing me?" she asks, staring at her feet. 

"Heck no, you're taking the bed," Ichigo says, looking at her like she's crazy. Orihime lets out a tiny _'eek!_ '

Yuzu and Karin stare at him in surprise. What was he doing that was making them so alarmed? It is eleven in the goddamn night and Ichigo just wants to _go to sleep_.

"Where are _you_ going to sleep?" Karin demands. 

"On the floor," he replies dryly. Isn't that obvious? Had he grown a second head?

Yuzu and Karin share a look. 

"I think we should leave," Yuzu says quietly, before turning to a very embarrassed Orihime. "Can I braid your hair before we go? It looks so pretty!" 

"S-sure." She stutters, not daring to look any of them in the eye. 

Ichigo leaves the room to drag out a blanket for him to sleep on. Karin follows him. They go in silence, though Ichigo can feel her eagle-eye his back. 

"Are you in love with her?" she demands, arms crossed. 

Ichigo pauses. She runs into his back, not expecting the sudden halt. He doesn't turn over his shoulder. 

"Don't be crazy, she's my friend. I care about her. Is it really that big of a deal that I want her to get a good night's sleep?" he demands.

"Just asking," Karin says, exhaling in relief. She leans against the wall. "She seems sweet, though. I like her." 

"Hmm." He knows a trap when he sees one. 

"If you wanted to date her --" There it is. 

He regards her with a weary look. "Karin --" 

"I'm just saying, I wouldn't mind. If you can land someone like that." Karin smirks, but her eyes are curious. 

Ichigo picks up the blanket from the hanger and shakes his head. He pats her on her hair gently. "What do you know about dating, huh?" he says gently. "Go to sleep. Quit worrying about me." 

"I wasn't worrying, you dirty sock," Karin glares as they re-enter the room. 

"We're all done here!" Yuzu announces, standing up. Orihime's hair is in a loose braid, getting all the hair out of her face. Her pins are on his bedside table. "Thanks for letting me braid your hair!" 

"You're welcome," Orihime smiles. She looks tired, so Ichigo gently ushers his sisters out of the room. Yuzu looks concerned, but Karin just grins over her shoulder. 

"Ichigo, you two are too young to be --" Yuzu starts and there's no way in hell he's letting her finish that sentence. He clamps his hand gently over her mouth and shakes his head. 

"Come on Yuzu, he's a big boy," Karin teases, tugging Yuzu by the arm. "It's not like Orihime's gonna go for a guy like him anyway." 

"Karin!"

"I'm joking, you crybaby!" 

Ichigo shakes his head. Once they're completely out of view, he half-closes the door. He purposely doesn’t look at Orihime sitting on his bed because it Does Things to his chest that might just be an early onset of cardiac arrhythmia or something. He’d have to ask his dad to give him a once-over -- those things are scary and often appear without warning, from what he’s read. Orihime quietly clears her throat. Right. 

"Sorry about my sisters," he says, coming into the center of the room to spread out his blanket. "They're really nosy sometimes." 

He thinks about Karin's direct approach and his face burns. He never should have taught her to be assertive, because here she was, using it against him. 

"I like them," Orihime says, patting the bed absently. "They seem nice." 

"They're alright," Ichigo says, getting on his back. The floor is kind of hard, he thinks belatedly. Up on the bed, Orihime still hasn't lied down. Should he tell her to? 

"Ichigo," she says hesitantly, overhead. "I don't feel comfortable sleeping on your bed." 

Ichigo groans. He's about to reject any offers she makes for them to exchange places but instead she says,

"Can I - Can I come down to the floor with you instead?" 

Oh. He swallows. That they can do, technically. If Isshin found them like this in the morning, he’d have to move countries and change his name. But she asks nicely and he’s bone-tired so he relents. "Sure," he says. "The floor is kinda hard though." 

"I'll manage," she says, flopping down beside him. She brings her blanket too, tugging it close around her body. She stays a good four feet away from him. Didn't they say something about the intimate zone and the personal zone in health class? He doesn't remember. He wonders which one this is, because it’s definitely not what it _feels_ like. 

She folds her blanket twice over and lays it on the floor before plopping on top of it. He imitates her, lying on his back and tucking his arms underneath his head. "Do you want another blanket or something?" 

"Hmm, it is kind of cold…" 

He springs to his feet, a bundle of nervous energy. He doesn't really want to go back downstairs, but maybe he can give her one of his hoodies. He walks to his closet and parts the door, fishing for something nice and thick. Her top doesn't have any sleeves, so it'll be large and comfortable, he hopes. Like a portable blanket. 

He finds his black hoodie, one of his favourites. It's just plain, no designs and it's super soft. He pulls it out and comes back, to see her sitting up. He hands it to her. 

"Thanks," she whispers. "I had a hoodie but I think the others forgot to retrieve it from the boat. I'm usually always battle-ready with my clothing!" She makes a grim face that looks so cute Ichigo _has_ to look away before he does something stupid like squeeze her nose. 

"Hmm." He lies back down, shifting the blanket over his body. 

She slips the hoodie over her head and inhales. "It smells like you," she says happily, falling back to the floor. Ichigo's heart does a weird little dance. What a strange thing to be happy about. 

"Is that a good thing or a 'you stink' thing?" Orihime would definitely say what he expects her to say but he wants to hear it anyway, sue him. 

"Definitely a good thing," she sighs, tugging it close over her body. 

It's quiet around the house. He can hear Isshin turning out the various lights in all the rooms before his heavy footsteps lead into the bedroom. Outside, he can hear the _scritch-scratch_ of Kon's footsteps. 

"I'm sorry we kept everything from you," she whispers. She sounds utterly guilty, and he thinks back to every time they've hung out these past two weeks and it all makes sense. "We didn't want you to worry." 

Ichigo snorts, like he didn't just spend all of his evening by the damn phone like a 20th century nobleman attending to his wife's labour. "I wasn't worried," he says instead. "You guys are strong and smart. You did a fine job without me." 

"We missed you, though," she says in a tiny voice and he turns to her because for some reason he wants to look at her face when she says this. Needs the affirmation that he was missed, that there's still a place for him at the table. "Or at least...I did." 

He glances at her, his cheek warm on the blanket. Her eyes widen in alarm, like she wasn't expecting him to turn. She immediately shifts back onto her back and buries most of her head under her blanket. The only visible parts of her are the tendrils of auburn hair from her braid, peeking out from underneath. 

Ichigo groans internally. He leans over on his elbow and tugs it back down, until it reaches her chin. He tucks the blanket under there, his knuckle brushing the soft skin of her jaw. "You'll suffocate," he answers to a beet-red Orihime, staring at him in open-mouthed shock. 

He feels his ears flame when he retreats back to his own space. He doesn't have the faintest clue what he's doing but he's satisfied enough to lie back down. By the time the embarrassed buzz in his ears clear out, he's sure she's fallen asleep. When he strains his ears, though, he can hear her fidgeting. Maybe she can't sleep. 

“Listen,” he starts, nervously. “About your parents…”

She sucks in a sharp breath. “Don’t worry about it,” she replies automatically. “Shun’O and the others said they’d help me handle it.”

“Ah,” he says awkwardly. She doesn’t seem to want his help, which stings him a little, but he offers it anyway. “If you ever need me, you know you just have to ask, right? I’d be willing to help in any way I can, powers or not.” He shifts over and regards her. “You’d ask. Right?” 

“I’d ask,” she replies carefully, not looking back. “if I need help, yes.”

Ichigo groans, but he takes it as a win for now. He turns to regard the ceiling again, letting a few moments of silence pass. She’s humming a tune to herself, so he assumes she isn’t really going to be sleeping any time soon. 

"Last week," he starts up again. "When we were working on the project, you kinda talked about your brother." He runs his hand through his hair. "It was all this stuff wasn't it? The stuff that was bothering you." 

She frowns, like she's trying to think back to their conversation. "Kind of?" she says. "I'd just been to my inner world and found out a lot of things about my brother that I didn't know before. And I felt really alone." 

"Oh yeah. What's it like in your inner world?" he asks, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. Her head's on the pillow, one hand resting on her belly. The other is in the four feet of space between them. 

"Oh. Well, there's six," she explains, her fingers doing a little dance in the air. "Each is a different facet of my imagination." 

Ichigo whistles. "That's gotta be wild, huh? You got any robots in there?" 

Orihime laughs, a small sound in his quiet room. "Don't." 

"Aliens, probably. Maybe even a giant donut, or like something in Charlie and the chocolate factory." 

"Now you're just generalizing," she complains. "I heard Tsubaki's house had an actual volcano." 

Ichigo shakes his head. "Knowing you it's probably a chocolate volcano." 

" _Yum_ ," she squeals and all pretenses to look tough are dropped. 

"Tell me about the others," he says with a sigh, shifting his head onto his elbow. They should probably be sleeping, but this is kind of great. He's never done this whole unintentional sleepover thing but it's nice. By some invisible guide for sleepovers, he feels like staying up the whole night. 

"Well," she starts, dragging out the syllables. "The first one I ever went to was Baigon's." 

"The one you learned sign language for," Ichigo says, recalling their time in the library. "Which is super cool of you, by the way." He doesn't remember any of the little he tried to learn, but this isn't about him. It's about her. She's so smart and she has the audacity to think she's useless.

"Thank you," she beams, before carrying on. "His world was full of metal and machinery. Kind of steampunk, but with the occasional fighter jets." 

"Did you like it?" Ichigo asks, eyes flicking to hers to gauge exactly how much she liked or disliked it. 

"Hmm," she replies, a little dazed. "It was interesting."

Then her eyes brighten. She rambles on about Shun'O's world and all the weird space stuff in there. He lets her lilting tone soothe him, focusing more on the sounds than the words. The peaks and troughs in her voice whenever she got excited and dismayed in quick succession. And her mind. God, what he'd give to know where she got all these insanely creative ideas from. It was so cool. 

"Are you asleep?" she whispers suddenly, realizing he hasn't said anything in a while. 

Ichigo grins, staring up at the ceiling. "No." 

"Why not? I thought you were tired." 

He bites his lip. "I thought I was too." 

He can hear her stir, turning over her back to her side. He doesn't look at her this time -- doesn't want her to go crawling under the covers again-- but he can picture it. 

"Thank you for talking to me back there," she murmurs. "I know it's not easy for you, without your powers and everything, but I really appreciate it." 

Ichigo flexes his fingers. "Of course." 

"Maybe, maybe one day if you're up for it," she says hesitantly. "We can go ghost-hunting the old-fashioned way?" 

Ichigo doesn't know why that's so funny, but he lets out a loud snort. "Like, with equipment in an abandoned house or something?" 

"It could be fun," Orihime defends.

"What's the point? You guys can see them." 

"We'll pretend not to," Orihime promises seriously. "And Tatsuki can bring her mace." 

Ichigo covers his mouth to let out another laugh. Just picturing his friends, with all their spiritual energy, walking around an abandoned house while he plays grabby hands with the air sounds in equal parts mortifying and hilarious. It reminds him of Don Kanonji and those early days of school when the roles were reversed. When he and Rukia were going around saving his friends from trouble. 

"Can we sacrifice Ishida at the altar in this hypothetical situation?" Ichigo asks finally. "You know, so we can sell his soul to the devil in exchange for eternal fame or some shit."

He thinks Orihime will berate him for this, but she suddenly goes quiet. He turns to look at her in concern, but she's grinning. 

"They did that on the Don Kanonji show once and it caused national uproar," Orihime giggles, a lifelong fan of the trashiest show on earth. "It didn't work obviously, but it made the papers." 

Ichigo doesn’t know how to respond to that, so he quips, "The only thing Ishida's going to make the papers for is being the biggest loser on earth." It’s not a great insult in the least but any Ishida insult is an opportunity worth taking. 

"Don't be mean when he's not here to defend himself."

"He started it," Ichigo says petulantly, and Orihime shakes her head. 

They laugh together, the late night silence and delirium from all the tiredness setting in. It's nice. Maybe one day, when the pain isn't so raw and he can almost convince himself he's a normal teenager again, they can go around doing this. It doesn't sound that bad at all in his head. As long as there's no life-threatening enemies, it seems fun, even if he'll miss Rukia. 

"Thanks, Orihime," he says, though he can't remember what he's thanking her for. 

She doesn't reply. When he turns over, she's already fast asleep, little puffs of snores escaping her mouth. He lets himself look at how unguarded she is, completely at peace with being a burrito within the blankets. He chuckles inwardly at the ridiculousness of it all and he's glad she's here. Glad that the Winter War left them unscathed enough that he can see himself healing eventually, one day. And one day when they're not dealing with things of the otherworldly nature, they could go get that ice cream. He inhales in surprise, looking around like someone might have heard him, but Orihime is still asleep. He glances at her again and swallows nervously. She murmurs in her sleep, hugging his sweatshirt firmly around herself. It looks like a tight embrace, unlike the one she gave him last week. 

Sometime during this conversation, they must have gotten a little closer, because he can feel the warmth of her hand radiating close to his. He feels almost curious. There's some sort of familiarity there, even though they've rarely held hands. 

He inches away a little, but lets one pinkie curl loosely against hers. He quickly glances at her face. She doesn't stir, but her fingers unconsciously curl around his in response. He smiles and shuts his eyes, letting sleep carry him off into a drowsy, quiet night. 

.

When Ichigo wakes up in the morning, she's gone. The spot she was sleeping in is replaced by his hoodie and the blanket, neatly folded. There's a tiny note on top of the lump, so he yawns and reaches out for it. 

_Had to go get ready for school. Thanks for everything! - Orihime_

Of course she did. He wonders why he thought they'd be waking up together. That wouldn't even have been great, it would have been embarrassing. Especially if their hands were still linked. Orihime would've been too kind to say anything but he'd feel like a creep for getting carried away with sleepover sentiments. 

He sets aside the note and the hoodie and ambles downstairs. 

It's surprisingly quiet. Maybe everyone's still asleep. When he walks into the living room, however, it's all empty except for Chad, who's sipping coffee in the kitchen. He raises the mug to greet Ichigo. "Tatsuki and Ishida left an hour ago." 

"Am I the last one to wake up then?" Ichigo asks, settling down opposite him. His dad is making burnt toast and coffee behind them. "I didn't even hear Orihime leave." 

Chad watches him curiously. Ichigo avoids his eyes and messes with his phone instead. He wonders if everyone else _knows_. If it matters. 

"You must have been up pretty late if you were that tired," Isshin remarks curiously, setting down breakfast. "As lovely as she is, the girl's got the grace of a newborn giraffe. I thought we were having a hurricane." 

Ichigo and Chad lock eyes and grin. That was one way of putting it. Isshin goes to wake the girls up. 

Ichigo glances at Chad. "Is everything sorted then? With the twin spirits?" 

Chad shrugs. "Seems like it." 

"That's good." 

Chad's still looking at him, like he can just _tell_ what Ichigo did last night. Ichigo ignores him and drowns an entire jug of black coffee down his throat. When he sets it back down, Chad grimaces. 

Ichigo grins, wiping the corners of his mouth, eager to change the subject. "So, when are you giving me a ride on that thing you've parked outside?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kon is in this chapter for one throwaway line. In retrospect, I realize we haven't actually seen him since the Hueco Mundo arc (and don't see him again until TYBW) and I don't exactly know how a mod soul would work if Ichigo doesn't have any powers left, but I'm hoping that's a minor gripe lmao. Thanks for reading!


	10. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone gears up for Ichigo's birthday. Literally everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is: The Epic Highs and Lows of Ghost Hunting finally comes to an end. This fic has been so much fun to write, so fulfilling to brainstorm and think about -- I loved each and every moment so much and all the lovely comments I received were just icing on the cake. 
> 
> This series is definitely far from over - the Karakura kids will be back and so will Ichigo and Orihime - but for now I'm going to pat myself on the pack for finishing my first multi-chapter work for any fandom ever and let you all read (possibly) one of the fluffiest chapters I've ever written.
> 
> Happy belated birthday to my boy Ichigo! This one goes out to him because it's been years since I got into Bleach and I still love him as ardently as I did the first time I watched it!

In school, it’s just like it always is. There’s the usual chatter of students, the bustle of people in and out of rooms. 

But among Orihime and her friends, it’s different. Like it always is. 

“It’s so weird,” Tatsuki gestures towards the courtyard where the boys play volleyball. “We just exorcised a frickin’ spirit, I feel _drained_ as hell, but the second we step on here it’s like nothing ever happened! Everyone’s just...normal.” She spins on her heel to survey Orihime. “How the heck did you go to war, come back to _this_ and not lose your shit?”

Orihime giggles. “It’s like you always say, I’m Inoue Orihime! I’ve got the resilience of an ant!” Tatsuki’s pained expression makes the whole thing ten times funnier, so she just throws an arm around her and bumps their heads together. “Everything feels alright when I come back because I have my best friends by my side.”

And, well, Tatsuki will have to give her that because she can see Chad, Uryuu and Ichigo bolting in their direction like a pack of over-excited hyenas. Uryuu stops first, Chad and Ichigo pausing a pace behind him. They’re all dusty and sweaty from playing around, but Tatsuki sees it pressed into their eyes too -- the inklings of a secret that no one else in school knows. Exclusive, a world of their own. Tatsuki personally doesn’t get the appeal of afterschool soul-sucking fighting, but a pack bond is a pack bond and this one is _strong_. 

“How you holdin’ up?” Ichigo asks, falling in line between Tatsuki and Orihime as Chad and Uryuu walk in front of them. He points to Orihime. “A little bird told me you wielded an actual mace last night.” 

“No one said anything about bringing a mace to a spirit fight -- or whatever the fuck you call those.” Tatsuki rebukes, pinching his elbow. Ichigo yowls in pain, springing away from her. Orihime laughs contentedly, eyes darting between her friends. She’s happy they’ve patched up again, but even more so that they’re back to the banter that she always enjoys. 

Ichigo’s eyes shift to hers at the sound, raising an amused eyebrow. She flushes, remembering the way their hands were connected this morning, and the sensation travels all the way to her ears. He’s extremely kind for not bringing it up, because such a stroke of confidence could have only come from her sleep-addled Bad Idea Brain. Bad, bad Orihime but also -- such _nice_ hands. 

“Anyway, the game just ended,” he announces, jerking his head towards the other end of the field. “We’re gonna chill for a bit, if you guys want in.” 

Tatsuki blows air out of her cheeks. “I’m gonna go get some bottled waters actually. You guys go ahead.” 

Tatsuki takes off towards the coolers, leaving Ichigo and Orihime to walk up to Chad and Uryuu. They’re both seated on a tire swing, with Uryuu on the top and Chad leaning against it. Chad jerks his head towards the swing when they arrive. “Someone just had this installed.” The statement doesn't mean anything in itself but Ichigo understands the implications. 

He raises his eyebrow, dusting his hands on his gym shorts. “We’re not all gonna fit.” 

This isn’t really a problem for Orihime, though, who gracefully settles into the inner ring. She grins up at his scowl and pats the top of the ring beside Uryuu. “Anything’s possible in the name of friendship, Ichigo!” 

“I’d hate to agree with Orihime in this regard,” Uryuu frowns, budging over to make space for Ichigo. “But the tire should hold our weight if we evenly divide it along the surface --”

“You know what,” Ichigo settles one foot on the inner ring and climbs up to the top, careful not to step on Orihime on his way. He grabs the rope tight, positioning himself so his long legs dangle over the length of the tire, mimicking Uryuu beside him. “If it’ll get you to shut up about your nerd shit, I’ll sit on this stupid swing all day long.” 

“It’s not stupid,” Orihime pouts, at the same time Chad says, “Want me to push you?”

“Of course not, Chad, don’t be ridiculous!” Uryuu says, horrified at the thought that they should be caught doing something so childish. Ichigo’s pretty much along the same vein, shooting Chad a menacing glare. 

Chad catches Orihime’s eye with a surreptitious grin. She laughs inwardly, knowing exactly what he’s going to do and braces herself for some blood-curdling shouts. Chad quickly darts behind the tire and heaves it backwards. 

“Chad, what --!”  
“Please don’t--!”

Ichigo and Uryuu both try to scramble off, but it’s too late because Chad gives it one gentle push. The tire sways shakily, lugging the overhead branch with a mighty ‘thwack.’ For a second, they all stare up at the knot in horrified silence. 

“Oh no!” Orihime cries, as the rope comes loose a second later, smashing the tire into the ground. Both Ichigo and Uryuu fall off, Ichigo falling right onto his bottom while Uryuu plummets sideways, his glasses flying askew. Orihime is somehow protected by the base of the tire, still sitting on it while her surroundings are marred by chaos. 

“This was a horrible idea,” Uryuu groans, groping the ground for his glasses. 

“ _Someone_ said it should hold our weight!” Ichigo glares pointedly at him, rubbing his own head. 

“You were the one who tried jumping off, you buffoon,” Uryuu points accusingly at Ichigo. “If you were on the Titanic, you’d be the first to die!” 

“If _you_ were on the Titanic, you’d be the idiot that hogs an iceberg meant for two all to himself because he _did the math wrong!”_

Chad runs his hand through his hair apologetically, giving Orihime a sideways grin. Since all his friends are sprawled out on the floor, one way or another, he joins her on the dusty ground. They both turn over their shoulders to watch Ichigo and Uryuu argue, because really there is no better way to spend their evenings than that. Orihime nudges Chad with her knee as she settles onto her palms, a satisfied smile on her face despite the tiny bruise forming on her elbow. 

“I leave for two minutes and you guys have already destroyed school property, huh?”

They all turn over their shoulders to see Tatsuki, holding bottled water in one hand and her phone in the other, snapping a picture of them in all their dusted glory. “This one’s so going up on Facebook!”

“Tatsuki!” They all groan in unison. 

It’s different, like it always is, but it’s also kind of the same.

______ 

Standing in the middle of her living room in boy shorts and a bra about a week later feels like a crisis in the making. Orihime settles both her hands on her hips, eyeing the mess of clothes on the floor.

"I knew I should have bought that green sweater at the mall," she whines, biting her knuckle in frustration. "It was on discount too." 

"It was ten percent off with a club membership," Tatsuki drawls, from somewhere underneath Orihime's pile of summer wear. "Which you don't have." 

Orihime frowns. Well, that's true. 

"What about this, then?" she asks, picking up a flashy yellow blouse. It's kind of bold, but it's got cute little frills that she really likes. 

Tatsuki lifts her head up from her phone and makes a face. "God, no. Why is that even in your closet? Is that something your aunt gave you?" 

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that," Orihime says, simply, but she tosses the blouse aside. It slides two feet away from where she intended it to land. She groans, feeling an exasperated sob coming on. Why isn’t anything _working_?

"Orihime," Tatsuki says, sitting up lazily on the couch. "If I help you pick an outfit, will you let me give you as my birthday present to Ichigo?" 

Orihime frowns. It’s the evening of Ichigo’s party and Tatsuki hasn't even been shopping for his present yet, leaving the task to Uryuu and Chad. Even though Orihime sent out emails _well in advance_. Emails that only Chad complied with, seeing as Tatsuki and Uryuu completely ignored them until the _evening of Ichigo’s party_. Orihime takes a breath. This is a disaster. 

"What would he do with me, silly?" she asks absently, picking up a red sweater that screams _‘librarian with four kids’_. She chucks it on the ground and huffs. This isn’t just a disaster, it’s a monumental one. She doesn’t have anything to wear, she hasn’t heard from Mizuro in two hours, Keigo won’t stop spamming the groupchat with outdated, unfunny memes...her brain is just about short of a stress overload and no one is taking this seriously.

Tatsuki shakes her head at the way her joke didn’t even go through Orihime’s occupied head. She glances at her phone, exhaling in relief when a text rolls in. She gets to her feet. “Ishida says they just got around to the pizza place,” she says, holding up the message. “He and Chad are gonna be here in ten.” 

Orihime glances at the clock in alarm. “Oh no, is it four already?” She whirls on her heel and stares at Tatsuki in tearful dismay. “I can’t do this. You three go on without me.” She begins hurriedly striding out of the heap of clothes and into her kitchen. “Get Keigo and Mizuro to help you with the banner!” she calls out, as she starts rummaging through her cabinets. 

Tatsuki follows her, narrowing her eyebrows. “Excuse me? Are you backing out on the _evening of his party_?” She holds her hands out wide in a ‘what the hell’ gesture, but Orihime decidedly ignores her in favor of slumping onto the floor and leaning against her oven. She’s munching on a frozen carrot, stubbornly avoiding Tatsuki’s stare. Where the hell did she pull that out of? Why is she shutting down mere hours before the love of her life’s party? “Are you _stress eating_?” 

Orihime frowns, a wobbly and childish look on her usually cheerful face. She doesn’t say anything, just chomps down her stupid carrot. Tatsuki sighs, setting her phone on the counter. She crawls down to the ground, opting to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with her best friend. “Hey,” she says, nudging her. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s going to hate it,” Orihime replies miserably, bringing her knees up to her chest. She should have known she wasn’t cut out for this kind of stuff. They should have just told him the truth from the start. She can already see the fake smile he’s going to give when he sees them. “He hates parties.” 

Tatsuki shakes her head and pokes Orihime’s cheek. “Of course he does,” she says. “But you know why he’s not going to hate this one?” 

Orihime just stares at her, big tears collecting beneath her lashes. 

“Because _you_ planned it, silly,” Tatsuki says, with a grin. 

“Don’t say that,” Orihime whines suddenly, glaring at her. “You’re always chalking up our friendship to be more than it is. He’s not just going to love this party because I planned it, it doesn’t work like that. Even if he does, it’ll just make me feel bad that even on his birthday he’s faking it for _me_. I don’t want him to do _anything_ for me, I never did--” She buries her head in her hands and lets out a few quiet sobs. 

If Tatsuki was anyone else, she might have been overwhelmed by the sudden burst of emotion, but Tatsuki is not anyone else. She’s equipped to handle this. Suddenly, she’s insanely glad they decided to put the boys in charge of the food and not Orihime. She cups Orihime’s chin and wipes off the downcast tears. “Hey,” she says, knocking her forehead. “That wasn’t what I meant at all.”

“It’s not?” Orihime mumbles.

Tatsuki scoffs. “No. He’s not going to love this party by virtue of you planning it. He’s going to love it because you planned it _well_.” She tugs Orihime’s elbow, forcing her to meet her gaze. “ _You_ turned down Keigo’s suggestion of popping out of a trap door because _you_ know Ichigo doesn’t like unexpected surprises. _You_ decided the party would have an abundance of food, a really awesome cake, and all his friends and family by his side because you know him well and know exactly what he wants.” She taps Orihime’s stubby nose with a smile. “Doesn’t that count for anything?”

Orihime wipes a bead of snot from her nose. “I guess.” 

Tatsuki shakes her head and stands up, holding out a hand. When Orihime doesn’t take it, she bends down and tugs the girl to her feet herself. She brushes all the stray hair out of Orihime’s eyes and holds her hands in place on her cheeks. “Now here’s what you’re going to do,” she instructs calmly. “You’re going to go dig out your sundress -- the blue strapless one, with the sexy little daisies on them.” 

“Okay.”

“You’re going to get inside the bathroom and put on that lip gloss Chizuru gave you for your last birthday, the neutral tone one,” she continues, nodding to ensure Orihime’s listening. “You’re gonna throw on some body mist and feel _cute_ because that’s what you deserve for planning this kickass party.” 

“Okay, okay, okay,” Orihime breathes, a flash of determination crossing her eyes. She pauses, regarding Tatsuki with another teary-eyed look. “I love you so much --”

“I love you too,” Tatsuki cuts off quickly, picking up her phone and flashing it in Orihime’s face. “But if you don’t hurry, we won’t have time to set up at the clinic before Ichigo gets home.” 

“Okay!” she hollers, bolting out of Tatsuki’s grip and back towards the mess of clothes on her floor. She quickly palms around for a while, before finally freeing the dress of its hold under a jumble of other dresses. She squeals excitedly, shrugging it on over her body. Once it's completely come down to the little patch of skin below her knee caps, she stands up and pats it down the sides for good measure. She looks up at Tatsuki, squeezing her tummy. "Too much belly fat?"

“You are the most beautiful girl in all of Karakura and I am going to absolutely murder Ichigo if he doesn’t compliment you tonight,” Tatsuki says, walking up to her with a huge grin on her face. “They don’t call you the prettiest girl in our school for nothing, you know.”

“They absolutely don’t call me that,” Orihime denies, a small flush on her cheeks. Her previously dissipated energy has now returned, as she frantically charges around her kitchen barefoot, stuffing cakes into boxes and boxes into bags and whatnot. Amidst the flurry of movement, they hear her doorbell ring shrilly. 

“Go get ready,” Tatsuki calls out, already heading over to the door. “I’ll take care of the packing.”

“Remember, the chocolate one --”

“-- goes in the unmarked box with the orange heart sticker,” Tatsuki finishes, with an eye roll. “I know, ‘Hime. Just _go_.”

Orihime grins sheepishly, clambering her way to the bathroom. Tatsuki shakes her head and yanks the front door open to see Uryuu and Chad holding a good few boxes of pizza between them. 

“Is everything okay?” Uryuu hesitantly asks, as Chad jerks his head towards Orihime’s apartment that currently looks disaster-struck. 

“Everything’s perfect.” Tatsuki grins, ushering them in. “Mind packing the cakes while I go fetch Orihime’s sandals? We’re kind of crunching on time here.”

Chad and Uryuu share a look, before breaking into movement around Orihime’s kitchen. Karin calls her saying Ichigo’s on his way back from the grocery store, so there’s an added urgency to get everything done and get _going_. Chad hums and ah’s at her when Tatsuki passes off the phone to go get the shoes. He’s the perfect pacifier in this situation, not her. 

“For someone who absolutely does not care about this party, you seem very intent on getting it right, Arisawa,” Uryuu remarks, out of the corner of his mouth. 

“Oh, you have no idea the things I've been through this last hour,” Tatsuki says, crossing her arms. “I swear to God if Ichigo doesn’t appreciate this, I’ll murder him myself.”

“A fitting gift for him, indeed.” 

By the time everything is packed and ready to go, Orihime comes out from the bathroom in a half-run. “Go, go, go,” she yells, slipping on the sandals Tatsuki hands her on the go. They all snap into movement, closing doors and switching off lights until they finally fall out of her house and onto the porch. 

They all glance at each other for a moment, chests heaving.

“Alright, which one of you chuckleheads forgot the soda?”

.

In the Kurosaki kitchen, there’s a gaggle of people shouldering past each other like a stampede. 

“Ichigo’s on his way back,” Yuzu is saying, as she ushers the four of them in. “I made him go buy bread as a suitable distraction while we set up shop here!”

“Such a genius idea by my brilliant daughter!” Isshin announces, coming down the stairs in great excitement over the fact that they had people over. He pauses to regard Tatsuki, Chad, Uryuu, before giving Orihime a teasing smile. “If I knew we were getting all dressed up, I would’ve worn a dress shirt!” 

Orihime flushes, self-consciously hiding behind Tatsuki and Chad. Compared to the fact that the two of them are dressed in shorts and t-shirts, she does feel a little overdressed. Even Uryuu, who usually wears something grandiose, is in a simple cashmere sweater and jeans. 

“And you’d still look ugly,” Karin retorts, emerging from the kitchen. She turns to the group with a pained grimace. “Can one of you get Keigo to stop ogling the nabe? It’s driving me nuts.” 

“I’ll take care of it,” Chad assures, brushing past them and towards Keigo. 

“What can I do?” Isshin asks, looking back and forth between the teenagers. They all turn to Orihime for guidance, considering she’s the one calling the shots around here. 

She flails a little, at the prospect of giving Ichigo’s dad orders. Karin scoffs. “You can make yourself useful and go set up the barbeque,” she orders, before looking to Orihime and Tatsuki again. “Are we bringing the snacks out to the hall?”

“Um, yes,” Orihime says, with a small smile. “That sounds like a good idea, Karin!”

“So polite, too,” Isshin marvels, rubbing his sideburns in awe. “Say, Orihime, are you --”

“Don’t even think about it,” Tatsuki warns, glaring at him. The last thing Orihime needs is Isshin Kurosaki teasing her, so she lightly shoves him out of the way, before dragging Orihime with her to the kitchen. 

“I was just trying to make nice for my son!” 

Tatsuki chortles. In the kitchen, Chad is driving out Keigo, while Mizuro plays on his phone. 

“Photos are out of question, correct?” he’s asking, testing the flash on his camera. 

“Not unless you want a knuckle sandwich for dinner,” Tatsuki mutters, helping Chad bring out trays of snacks to the hall. They’re all arranged way too neatly, like catering services do for weddings. Heck, even the cheese on the enchiladas is splayed proportionately with the herbs and seasoning. Uryuu contributes to the condiment table by making tissue swans, but Tatsuki half-suspects that’s to get out of moving duty like the rest of them. 

Outside, Isshin is setting up a barbeque enthusiastically. She hears a yowl of pain when he inadvertently shocks himself on the wires. He glances up to give a thumbs-up to Tatsuki, who scoffs. 

“Are you sure I can’t _taste_ these cupcakes until he arrives, Inoue?” Keigo asks, following the girl around like a helpless toddler. “I just want to _taste_ them, I swear he won’t even know.” 

“No, Keigo,” she says patiently, hurrying to the hall where Uryuu is helping Yuzu plaster a big banner above the entryway between the clinic and the house. “Is everything going alright here?”

“Everything’s just perfect,” Yuzu cheers, smiling at Orihime. “This banner is so pretty, I’m sure Ichigo will love it.” It’s a rich, black cloth with the words _‘Happy 18th Birthday’_ in gold, a cute, scowling strawberry painted beside it. It took all of three hours for her and Chad to make it, though hanging it up there now, Orihime wonders if he might be embarrassed by it. She swallows, smiling back lightly at Yuzu. She thinks back to her conversation with Tatsuki in her kitchen and her hands begin to feel damp. 

“Guys!” Keigo hollers suddenly, pointing to the window. “Ichigo’s coming up the block!” 

.

Technically, he’s well aware there’s some kind of surprise party happening for him at his house. He even sees the silhouettes of a few heads scrambling around the curtains of his kitchen as he comes up on the driveway. He nagged Tatsuki once or twice to tell him what they’re doing, but the girl absolutely refused. Either way, he can’t help but hope on hope that it’s not something embarrassing. Or loud. 

He takes a deep breath, settling one hand on the door handle, the other on the bread bag. Despite insisting that he’d stay in his room and pretend not to hear them, Yuzu had forced him out of the house and pleaded with him not to come back for two hours. He’d spent all of forty minutes staring down the bread aisle before eventually giving up and heading back home. 

He slowly nudges the door open, expecting some sort of jumpscare or the other. When it doesn’t come, he frowns. 

Inside, the house is totally dark and quiet. That’s usually a sign that someone is out there in the shadows, waiting for him. Usually his dad. If he could sense reiatsu, he knows he’d feel all of them in haphazard flames. With the loss of that feeling, all he can do is strain his ears to hear whispers near the kitchen. They know he’s here, he’s just giving them time to sort out the last-minute details of their non-surprise surprise party. He pictures Orihime in there, excited at the prospect of giving him a good birthday and his face slightly relaxes. He’s going to try for her, even if his dad will shout and Yuzu will cry and Karin will make some quip about how old he’s getting. 

“Is he in yet?”

“I don’t _know_ , Asano.”

Ichigo toes off his shoes and gingerly steps around the living room, making sure his feet creak and land heavily on the floorboards so they can hear him. Predictably, the lights flicker on. What _doesn’t_ happen though, is the shouting. The living room is devoid of people, but decked with all kinds of assortments. On the coffee table, there’s trays and trays of food. On the couch, there’s a wrapped up jungle of presents. Overhead, the large banner reads ‘Happy 18th Birthday’ in big, bold letters. On the mantle, below Masaki’s poster, is a framed picture of him and his friends after the tire swing accident. 

He picks it up to see a tiny post-it attached to the top, which he peels it off curiously. 

_‘Happy Birthday to our favorite hero, our resident delinquent and our best friend! Kidding about the delinquent part. Maybe. We love you!’_ it reads, in unmistakably Orihime’s loopy, neat handwriting. He grins, despite himself, running a finger along the flourished letters. 

In the moment he lets his guard down, he almost doesn’t sense a giant clutter of footsteps sneakily entering the living room behind him. 

“Surprise!” 

He turns over to see them all in a colorful blur, wearing silly party hats over their heads and wide grins on their faces. Mizuro and Tatsuki have their phones up in the air, Chad flashes him a thumbs up, his sisters watch him excitedly, Uryuu frowns, and Orihime…

A sudden black-and-white ball flashes into his view, barreling towards him with intense speed. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY ICHIGOOOO!” Ichigo nearly misses, but dodges his dad last minute. 

“Ichigoooooo! You’re eighteen now, my man!” He dodges Keigo, too.

Once the two are out of the way and on the floor, he regards the rest of them. Yuzu and Karin come up to him immediately, hugging either side of him in a tight embrace. Before he can do anything, Chad comes up to him and hugs him too, suffocating all three Kurosaki siblings in a warm, giant embrace. 

“So cute!” someone squeals in the background, as the rapid flash of cameras go off again. 

“Can’t breathe,” Ichigo wheezes into Chad’s forearm, patting his sisters’ backs to will them to let him go. They all come apart, babbling excitedly about cake and parties and _nabe_. Yuzu clings onto him as he approaches Tatsuki and Uryuu, while Karin goes to wrangle his dad and Keigo off the floor. 

“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Tatsuki is muttering to the figure hiding behind her. The curtain of blue whimpers, sinking further behind Ishida and Tatsuki. Tatsuki scoffs and finally regards Ichigo, a superior smirk on her face. “Happy birthday, asshole.”

“May you live a thousand brainless years in tandem with the first eighteen ones,” Uryuu snarks, crossing his arms with a smug smirk of his own. 

Ichigo barely nods at them, trying to get Yuzu to relinquish her grip on him and reach around Tatsuki and Uryuu to scope out the one person he’d been denied seeing this entire time. 

“Come on, Yuzu, lets go set up this doofus’ cake,” Tatsuki says, stepping out of the way. She shares one knowing look with Uryuu, before the two come apart and lead Yuzu away. The action uncovers Orihime, who shyly clasps both her hands together as the vision of her becomes clearer. 

He sucks in a breath lightly. She’s in this floral blue dress that flows down to her knees with a graceful swish when she comes forward. Her bangs are neatly brushed to hug the delicate curve of her jaw and when she looks up, her eyes _shine_ \-- a glowy amber that radiates warmth and meek joy at the sight of _him_ , Kurosaki Ichigo. 

And he’s in an old, ramen-stained shirt he’s had since 10th grade. 

“Happy birthday, Ichigo,” she whispers, her cheeks a seashell pink as she fiddles with the silvery, crescent moon pendant that rests on the bare skin of her neck. _Shit._

“Yeah,” he breathes, self-consciously ruffling fingers through his hair. “I, um, you’re….uh.” He takes a deep breath, willing himself to settle the rattling in his stomach, the short circuits in his brain. He meets her eyes with a small smile. “Thanks, Orihime.” 

He’s distantly aware of the chitter of voices behind him as they stare at each other. It all feels like background noise that simply pales in comparison to this silence with her. He feels like he should be saying _something_ at least -- maybe even thank her for putting all this effort -- but when he opens his mouth, the words don’t come out. She smells like a mild vanilla, a breath of fresh air, a meadow…

“Ichigo, Daddy made cake!” 

He groans, forcibly peeling his eyes off Orihime and glaring at his dad, who wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at him.

“You didn’t bake it, Orihime did!” Karin snarls, yanking his hand away from licking at the frosting. 

“She didn’t bake this one, either, it’s store bought,” Tatsuki intervenes, sighing at the quarreling Kurosakis. 

“Inoue, can I please eat now?” Keigo wails, rubbing his belly. “I’m a growing boy, you know!” 

He turns to Orihime again, with a sigh. She smiles. “We should…”

“Yep,” he says, jerking his head back to where everyone else was gathering around the cake and the food. “Come on.” 

______

After everyone leaves, the house returns to a state of quiet. Most of his friends go home after overeating, but Orihime and Chad stay back to help clean. Yuzu and Karin have long fallen asleep on the couch after one too many slices of cake, leaving Ichigo, Isshin, Orihime and Chad to sort out the leftover _yakiniku_ that they grilled over the barbeque. As far as birthdays go, this one wasn’t all that bad. His sisters enjoyed the red velvet cake that Orihime had got an employee’s discount on. They mostly spent their time eating and talking, which is not too different from how they’d spend a day at school. 

By the time they’re done, the smell of smoked meat starts to make Ichigo sick, so he steps away from the lawn and heads further towards the patio door. He’s almost there when he feels a small hand tug his elbow. He turns to see Orihime looking up at him hesitantly.

"What's up?" he asks.

"Can I talk to you in private, please?" she whispers.

He raises his eyebrows but nods. "We can go to the kitchen?" he offers and she agrees, fidgeting with her hands. 

How they're going to break away from his dad without making a scene, he doesn't know but the man seems distracted enough over his conversation with Chad that he doesn’t notice them going over to the kitchen. When he turns over his shoulder, he's surprised to see that Orihime didn't actually follow him here. He frowns, hoping to God there's not some kind of surprise in here. To his relief, she comes up to him moments later, a smile on her face. There’s a small bag in her hands, that she draws up to the counter. She didn’t really give him presents when everyone else did, so he just assumed she’d been too busy planning the party to buy him one. Which he was perfectly okay with, obviously, but this is _Orihime_ and of course she has presents. 

"I didn't want to give you this in front of the others, so I called you here," she explains, pulling out an assortment of items from the bag. Initially, he thinks these are all gifts from _her_ but the Chappy wrappings are telltale signs of who the sender is. Ichigo swallows.

"Yoruichi recently went over to Soul Society," she explains, pushing forth the several gifts onto his counter. There’s one solid box wrapped in turquoise and another wrapped crudely in a gaudy orange. He pries open the wrappings, noticing her grimace at the crude and impatient way he rips them open. He slows down after that, even though his palms are wet with sweat and anticipation. 

He holds up the first one for both of them to see. Rukia's gift is titled _'War of the Seven Winds,_ ’ a plain book with a golden oak tree embossed on the mahogany hardcover. There's a little sticky note on top with a message scrawled onto it. It reads: 

_Happy birthday #15! You're a year older, let's hope to God that's a year wiser. This is a very famous book in Soul Society and some would even consider it recommended reading for any shinigami - real, representative or former. I hope you're having a good birthday and that this reaches you in time. I’m doing well, hope you are too. Send my love to Isshin, Yuzu and Karin. - the coolest sensei you've ever had._

_P.S My gift is a lot cooler than Renji's_

He grins, turning over the book in his hand. He feels a pang in his chest, some vague part of him missing her and her stupid _‘Soul Society, this, Soul Society that.’_ But mainly, it makes him happy she’s doing well. 

On the counter is another package from Renji that's wrapped a lot shabbier than Rukia's. It's in the outline of sunglasses, so Ichigo snorts before he can even see it. Tugging it free, he realizes that the chances of him wearing these gray-and-orange enormous shades are zero to none. There's a note on this one, too.

_Happy birthday moron. I spent a good load of my paycheck on this so you better appreciate my token of friendship. P.S the book Rukia sent is actually really good -- heard a lot of guys with hero complexes really like it. Have a good one. - Lieutenant Abarai Renji, superior redhead._

He glances up to see Orihime staring at him with a wistful expression.

"Thanks for these, Orihime," he says, waving both the items in his hands. "I really appreciate it."

Orihime smiles sadly, watching as he tosses the wrapping paper into the trash. She sets her hands on her counter and gnaws her bottom lip nervously.

"Is there anything else?" he asks her, given her total lack of movement.

"Well, there's my present," she says shyly, lifting the bag up. She hands it to him delicately, so he tries to match her in that regard. There's a box of some kind in here, he can feel the outlines of it.

“What is it?” he asks, gently spreading the sides of the cover open to see the plain box inside. 

"I know I brought the cake we had outside," she says quietly, not meeting his eyes. "But I wanted to make you another one."

"Why?" Ichigo asks. That sounds time consuming, not to mention hard.

"This one's just for you," she whispers. 

Oh. Ichigo feels his face burn. “I, uh --”

“Yuzu told me you’ve never had chocolate cake for your birthday since you found out she was allergic,” she blurts suddenly, her voice soft in the quiet kitchen. She lowers it further into a whisper and braves herself to move closer to him. In one trembling motion, she reaches out for his hand that rests on the cool granite countertop. His heart immediately kicks back up, but before he can say anything, she starts talking again, so he just turns his hand upwards to hold hers, hoping Isshin is still somewhere outside. 

“Big brothers have to grow up so fast,” she says, her gloss-shiny lips pulling into a sweet smile. “I wanted you to enjoy being your age for once.” 

He doesn't trust his voice to thank her yet, so he busies himself with the tape on the boxes. There's no label on this one, like the common cake had. It’s completely homemade. 

When he opens the lid, he's kind of shocked. The cake is plain, chocolate, but right in the middle, there's a cake topper. It's like one of those wedding cake things with the bride and groom toys stuck to the top except this cake topper is him. He's wearing his black sweatshirt, hands shoved in his pockets. His face is pulled into a chibi style frown but all in all, it's incredibly detailed. She's even got the shade of hair right.

"Wow," he whistles, eyeing it from all angles. "You made this?"

She nods.

"Shit, this is so cool," he pats his fondant self on the head. "Am I edible?"

She laughs, a trilling sound that warms his chest. “You are.” When he looks up at her, she’s got such a fond expression on her face that he’s suddenly overwhelmed. Overwhelmed that someone like her would choose to put so much effort for him when she knows he’s not the kind of guy to openly return it. 

Ichigo pauses. He doesn’t know what to do with all this affection that spills out for her, so he stands up and tugs her into a fierce hug. She goes in willingly, not without a stunned squeak that muffles into his shirt. He wraps one arm around her waist, the other pressing her head into his chest. She smells so familiar, so sweet it’s almost nerve-wracking. Her fingers dig into his back, returning his hug with a fervent one of her own. 

“Thank you, Orihime,” he mutters into her hair. She squeezes him tightly in response, and he’s pretty sure the shoulder of his shirt is damp with her tears. They pull apart seconds later, just looking at each other until it becomes too much, too intense to the point where both of them break eye contact. He coughs lightly, while she fusses with her dress. 

“Can you taste the cake, please?” she asks, a few moments later, braving a glance at him. 

“Oh, yeah,” he says quickly, glad to have something to do with his restless hands. He reaches out for a knife from one of the back cabinets, before making two small incisions into the glossy cake. The first piece he cuts pulls apart smoothly, so he pinches it and hands it out to her. She reaches for it with her hand, but he shakes his head. “Just eat. It’ll spill if you try taking it.”

“But it’s your birthday,” she protests, with a frown. “You should have the first bite.”

“First bite always goes to whoever throws the party,” he says unthinkingly. He’s sure that’s not even true, but part of being a big brother is having ample experience of making up rules on the spot. He beckons her with a hand. “Come on, eat.” 

“Okay.” She gingerly steps forward and he feeds her, trying to ignore the soft brush of her lips on his fingers. He can only hope Karin and Yuzu are still fast asleep, because he can’t fathom looking _anyone_ in the eye if they were ever caught. She pulls back, slowly chewing the slice with a thoughtful expression. He raises an eyebrow. 

“Your turn,” she says, reaching out for the second piece before he can say anything. She holds it up and when she turns, she’s almost bashfully pink. “Can - can I feed you, too?”

_Mission abort!_ His brain screams. “Y-yeah,” he stutters, leaning forward. The second one is a lot crumblier than the first, so a few bits scatter onto the corners of his lips. The second the cake rests on his tongue, a _wave_ of pleasure hits his brain directly. “Fuck, this is so good.” 

She laughs, watching him devour the cake. “You think so?”

“Heck yeah!” He hasn’t even swallowed all of it yet and he’s so full from dinner, but he knows he’s going to be sneaking down to the kitchen to eat this at 3 A.M. It’s just that good. “Thank you for this, I mean it.” 

“Of course,” she says softly, reaching forward to brush the crumbs off his face with a giggle. The action feels a lot more tender than it should be, so Ichigo pulls back -- not without giving her a genuine smile.

“Make a wish, Ichigo.”

He stares at her -- her earnest face, her pretty smile. _I wish I could still protect you,_ he thinks, wringing his hands underneath the counter where she can’t see. On the outside, he just shrugs. “Not big on wishes, honestly.” 

“I knew you’d say that,” she says, clucking her tongue teasingly with a head shake. She gives him one last smile before gesturing her head towards the front door. “Anyway, I should be heading home. I’m just going to tell Chad and get going.” 

He nods, ready to follow. “I’ll walk you there.” 

They’re just about to make their way to the door when she pauses again. He stares down at her in concern, but her eyes aren’t on him -- they’re on his _lips_. Blood rushes to his cheeks as she stands on tiptoes, her dizzying scent wafting past his nose when she gives him a quick peck on the cheek. He freezes in shock. 

“Thanks for everything,” she murmurs, coyly, before sliding open the door herself and bolting outdoors. 

He stays rooted to his spot, watching her long after she leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Officially, Ichigo is 17 at the end of the time-skip but for the purpose of my series, he needs to be 18. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed :)


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